


Seasonal Feelings

by chevre_mere



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, also nobody is straight, dadvid, david is trying his best i promise, everyone in the main 5 minus max is on the autism spectrum, im too lazy to properly fix the tags for now so just have these, max has ptsd, neil and nurf and jasper are trans, some of the other kids are on the spectrum as well, tags will be updated as the story goes along, theres a lot of coming to terms with sexuality and gender and stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-03
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-08 18:07:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 43,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12259425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chevre_mere/pseuds/chevre_mere
Summary: max gets adopted by his overly excitable camp counselor and his outdated boyfriend, and moves into a new neighborhood, where he has tons of new adventures.





	1. She Takes Taek Won Do (And Bears)

The car ride was silent- awkwardly so, if it weren't for the car’s engine and the crumbling of the road below the vehicle, Max was certain it would have been all the more awkward. Usually David had something to offer to keep everything less awkward, but this afternoon he had nothing.

Of course Max had been positive that David and Jasper would end up getting custody of him, he just didn't expect Jasper’s mom, Jasmine, to deck his father right in the nose. Of course she was mad- but she was 5’3, and 167 pounds. He wasn't exactly aware that she was able to throw a good punch.

“I told you, Maxy,” Jasper said casually as his other mother, Lan, held her wife back, frantically speaking in Chinese as she attempted to escape the tall man, now bleeding from his nose, “she teaches Taek Won Do. She knows how to fight back when she needs to.”

In his defense though, Max had never met Jasmine or Lan properly, plus he hadn't even listened to Jasper when he was told, so he really didn't have a way of knowing whatsoever.

“We're home,” David finally breaks the silence, as the car pulls into the driveway, “do you need help with your things, Max?”

“I don't have anything,” Max muttered in response, simply raising an eyebrow when Jasper’s head snapped back and he looked at him in surprise, and he quickly shot back with a, “they didn't fucking care to get me much other than a bed and a dresser and some other shit, remember?”

Max jumped when David just got out of the car silently in place of saying anything to Max’s response. He opened the backseat door and Max, although confused (and a tad bit scared even though he wouldn't ever admit it), hopped out. 

“I think we can scrounge around for some stuff, Davey,” Jasper’s head popped up as he emerged from the car, “until we get the chance to go into town that is.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” David said with his usual enthusiasm, “you wanna get us started on that Jasper?”

Jasper’s eyes lit up and he nodded. David smiled and tossed the house key to his boyfriend, hitting him in the head with it on accident.

“I’m okay,” he said, scrambling to grab them from the ground before hustling up to the porch and disappearing into the house with the help of the jingling keys in the gold lock.

The early autumn sunset’s sky of pink and orange and yellow and purple reigned magnificently in the sky as David and Max stood out in the driveway in silence. 

“David?” Max looked up at the man, questions clouding in his mind begging to be answered.

David looked down at him. He lifted his hand, with intent to pat Max’s head, but paused, backpedaling and resting his arm limply and awkwardly at his side.

“I’m really proud of you for getting through all of that, Max,” the redhead says after taking a breath of air.

Max narrowed his eyes at the prospect of having to sit through some of David’s sappy bullshit.

“Max,” he sighed, leaning down so that he and the child were face-to-face, “I know how difficult it is to deal with situations like yours. I went through the same thing.”

David paused and Max searched his face for some kind of sign that he was kidding; that it was some bullshit peppy talk. When he couldn't find a single hint of joking, Max looked into David’s eyes again. He was tempted to ask, but decided ultimately to keep quiet, as he didn’t want to reopen any wounds or anything.

“You're going to be alright now, okay? Nothing is going to get you as long as Jasper and I are around,” David finished his speech with a smile.

If Max didn't have a facade to keep up he thinks he’d be really visibly emotional. Instead he opted to cram his fists into his jacket pockets and mumble out, “thanks, I guess.”

The man lifted himself back up and started walking up to the front porch. Max quickly followed. As they entered the home, Max was greeted with a ton of boxes scattered everywhere.

“Uh,” he looked around, “what the fuck?”

“Language, Max,” his newly adoptive father gently reminded him, “Jasper and I just so happen to be in the process of packing to move to a different house.”

“A different house,” Max repeated, and after a pause, asked, “where?”

“Into the suburbs!” David cheered gleefully, pointing a finger up. He wilted slightly when the child didn’t appear impressed, but didn’t completely deflate.

There was a lot of rustling and such from down the hall. Jasper was going about his aforementioned task- rather determinedly, too. He seemed to cling onto Max for some reason, wanting to take any opportunity to get to know him better, especially so when they were first introduced to the other. Max didn’t exactly jump at the chance to talk about himself and disclosed as little as possible whenever the time came. After a while, Jasper stopped asking so many questions and started to let him do his own thing.

After a beat of awkward silence, David spoke, “I’m gonna get started on dinner! Call me if you need anything, Max!”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.”

The tall man disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the boy alone. He looked around for a couch to lay on, but could only find a red leather seat. He rolled his eyes but nonetheless flopped down and rested his hands on the back of his head, tuning out the noises in the house.

He drifted off into a sleepy state, half-mindedly listening to David humming in the kitchen and Jasper digging around. Eventually the noise from Jasper’s end halted and was quiet. He thought briefly about cursing David out for singing but his body was too tired and he eventually just decided against it. Eventually there was a knock on the door, to which Max responded with by shoving a pillow over his head. He groaned at the idea of having to get up and answer the door but was relieved of the duty when Jasper came tumbling down the hall and opened the door.

He heard a woman talking to Jasper who sounded way too delighted for his own good. The urge to open his eyes and look around at the happenings in the house was a big one, but he knew if he got caught he'd have to talk to someone about something and that was one thing he didn't want to deal with. So that was that. Jasper chatted with the woman for about five minutes until they said their goodbyes and he shut the door, rushing back down the hall.

Unfortunately for him, Max was shook from his half-slumber a few minutes after.

“Max?” David’s voice was soft, “are you awake?”

The child groaned and sat up, swatting at David’s hands, “fuck off, I’m up.”

He rolled his eyes when his ex-counselor beamed at him, and spoke, “I made dinner!”

“Wonderful,” he responded sarcastically, standing up and walking into the kitchen. David, meanwhile, went to go fetch Jasper.

In all honesty Max was starving- his parents hadn't fed him in a couple days and this would be the first actual meal he was going to get after a while. He was pretty excited, but opted to look bored while sitting at the table.

“Hey homeskillet,” Jasper sat down at the chair at the end of the table, “what's cookin’?”

“Don't say that,” Max groaned, drawing out the don’t for an extra second or two.

Jasper just chuckled and looked up and over to his boyfriend.

“What's been cookin’, good lookin’?”

Max groaned louder and Jasper stifled a snort as David shook his head.

“I made spaghetti,” he said simply.

“Radical! Dish us up, Davey.”

“You are the bane of my existence,” Max glared at Jasper, who was watching David.

Jasper didn't respond with any outdated lingo, much to Max’s liking. He didn't respond at all in fact, he just continued watching David, making googly eyes at him.

“What do you see in him?” The boy asked, and Jasper turned his head to look at his son with a smile.

“Davey’s kind. He's loving and smart and clever,” he began, “he's great with children, he sees the good in everything….”

Max tuned him out. None of that sappy bullshit, thanks and goodnight. He started to think about Parents’ Day. He thought about Gwen. Then he thought about Nikki. And then Neil. He missed Neil a lot. He wasn't sure why.

“.....all in all,” he was snapped from his thoughts by David placing the plate in front of him, “Davey is a wonderful guy.”

Max fake gagged as Jasper and David kissed. David sat on the end opposite to Jasper, smiling.

“Well… eat up!” He said after an awkward pause.

The sound of forks clanging on plates made Max jump a little, but he played it off as nothing and began eating as well.

Jasper asked David a lot of questions about camp, to which David answered honestly, many of the answers leaving Jasper concerned. Max grinned a smug grin but ate silently as David detailed some of the shenanigans Max and his friends got into.

After dinner was over, Max glanced around the house, tired and wanting to sleep but unsure of where to go. He started to make his way back to the chair but paused when Jasper spoke up.

“Tired?”

He turned to face the man, who was sitting on the couch, “yeah, what's it to you?”

Jasper shrugged, then tossed his head to the right, “we set you up in the second room on the left. Go nuts.”

Max balled his fists and stuffed them in his jacket pockets, disappearing down the hall to find the aforementioned room. The boy’s jaw dropped when he saw the room.

Sand colored walls matching a white frilly carpet. A circular rug was sat on the floor, its design of which reminded Max of an old arcade. There were a few potted plants in the windowsill, the opening lined by a soft green sheet, cut and tied with ribbons to make curtains. There was a wooden table, painted white with a similar chair pushed into it. Books were stacked on the edge of the table. Children’s books mostly, but there were a few old novels there as well. A lava lamp rested on a mahogany teakwood dresser next to the big queen sized bed, dressed in a giant fluffy yellow comforter and tons of pillows.

But what stood out most to Max was his favorite bear in the whole world, Mr. Honeynuts, perched precariously on the bed. Max ran and leapt onto the bed, practically drowning the bear in his hug.

“Mr. Honeynuts! I thought I'd never see you again,” he exclaimed, happily.

He held back a happy laugh as he flopped onto his side, sighing softly.

He wasn't sure how long he laid there staring at the bear for but the thought passed his head as he heard a knock on the door. He sat up, quickly putting a frown back on his face. Jasper opened the door and looked around.

“I got a hunch that it’d be a good idea to pack this room up last,” he smiled, “can I come in?”

Max nodded softly, and Jasper poked himself in, gently shutting the door behind him.

“I searched the attic for some of my old things when I was your age, I hope you don't mind.”

Max looked down sheepishly, “it's nice.”

“I’m really glad you think so,” the man tilted his head, then paused before he spoke again, “I just didn't want you to be living in the same quality room you lived in before.”

“I wouldn't have minded,” Max shrugged. Part of him was telling the truth. All he really needed was Mr. Honeynuts and a bed.

“Still,” Jasper insisted.

There was a pause. Max decided to ask.

“How did you get my bear?”

“My mom raided your mom’s car.”

“The crazy Taek Won Do mom?”

Jasper nodded, “David mentioned that he didn't want you sleeping without your bear so-”

“David remembered?”

“David remembers a lot of things if he cares about you enough.”

Max hugged the bear to his chest, “...tell him I said thanks.”

“I will.”

Jasper walked over to Max and covered him up under the blanket, ruffling his hair very very gently.

“Have good dreams, alright?”

“No promises,” Max always had to get the last word in.

Jasper smiled and turned the lights out, leaving the door slightly ajar just in case. Max cuddled Mr. Honeynuts to his chest and eventually drifted off into sleep.


	2. Turtle Soup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> max and his dads move into their new home.

It was really awkward when Max found himself in the car a few days later, his fathers taking him to a different house. This one would be closer to town but still in a quieter neighborhood, where David could get to his job easier and where Max could get to school easier when the time came.

...Although, technically they'd just be going to the same place, as David worked at the school. He was an elementary school teacher, teaching sixth graders. Max was a middle schooler, in seventh grade. He honestly found the concept of sixth grade being considered an elementary school year to be weird, but he just decided that it was just the way some schools handled things and moved on.

Jasper was no doubt excited, as he was bouncing in his seat and flapping his hands and asking David tons of questions. It reminded him a bit of Nikki honestly.

They pulled up to the house- it was notably much nicer than the old one. Jasper practically leapt from the car to go look around. When Max got out he was greeted with the neighbors next door blasting their radio out in the backyard as the owner of the house sang along loudly and out of tune, watering his plants. Max could have sworn it sounded vaguely familiar but he didn't feel like bothering to find out.

Mischief and chaos weren't too fun without his friends anyway.

David was the last to get out of the car, stretching his arms and legs. It had been an hour long drive, after all. All the furniture had been moved to the house in the prior days so all that was left was to set up the house.

“It's gonna be a while Max,” David said, “how about you go make some friends in the neighborhood?”

The child groaned, “fine,” and turned his back to David, stalking off down the road. As he started to walk off, he heard some kind of argument coming from the neighbor’s yard. 

Too nosy to resist, he whirled back around and pressed forward. David had gone inside, which gave Max the perfect opportunity to sneak over to the fence. He did so, pressing his back up against the wood and craning his head so that his ear was pressed up against the wood.

“I told you, Carl,” a familiar accented woman spoke, “Nikki doesn’t like flowers. It makes her all… antsy or somethin’.”

“Sorry, Candy, dear. Ehh, there are supposed to be some new neighbors next door today, can you send the kids to greet them?”

“Yeah, sure…”

Max wasn’t sure if this was irony or luck, or just a huge coincidence and misunderstanding. He was at a complete loss for words, mouth agape. Either way, he had to plan this out. He wanted to surprise his friends. He lived for people’s reactions.

The question was how would he do it? What if he pretended the house was haunted and then leapt out in front of them and spooked them? He was running out of time. He quickly dashed into the house and shut the door. As he walked in, David turned to look at him.

“Max? What are you doing back here so early?”

“I got bored,” Max fibbed.

That’s when it hit him: David would be the perfect thing to surprise them.

And it’d be a double whammy when he himself walked up to the door. Possibly a triple whammy when Neil and Nikki found out David had a boyfriend.

“Hey David,” the little boy tugged on his pants leg, putting his plan into action.

“Yes Max?”

“How about you take a break while I go help Jasper unpack?”

David quirked an eyebrow, “but we’ve only started unpa-”

He was already down the hall. Max hid in the room closest to the door, waiting. He felt himself stifle a soft giggle, but quickly covered his mouth.

There was a knock.

“Company, already? What a friendly neighborhood!” David cheered, marching up to the front door.

“Hello, neighbors!” He announced, opening the door. There was a silence.

“Neil? Nikki? W...What are you two doing here?” David asked, in confusion. He paused, and then lit up, gasping, “are you our neighbors?”

“I…. guess so,” Neil choked out, clearly unsatisfied with this turn of events.

“Hi David!” Nikki cheered.

“Well hello there Nikki, it’s nice to see you!”

Max walked forward, trying to contain the excitement and amusement in his chest as he spoke, “hey David, what’s up?”

He landed right in front of David in the doorway, then looked over to Neil and Nikki. The party of four was silent.

“Max?!” Nikki finally broke the silence, stating the elephant in the room, “what are you doing here? With DAVID? Did you run away and join the circus? Is David a clown?”

Max shrugged casually, “foster stuff. I’m staying with him now. Question is, what are you doing here with Neil?”

The tallest child of the trio rolled his eyes and responded, “our parents are going out now.”

“That’s a garbage fire-”

“That’s great!” David chimed, “you two must feel so much closer!”

“....Not really,” Neil said, “it’s kind of annoyi-”

“We are!” Nikki said, jumping up and ruffling Neil’s hair. He grumbled.

“Well, Max,” David gently pushed his son so that he inched closer to his friends, “why don’t you three go play while Jasper and I get your room set up?”

“Sure, okay.”

The three children departed from the stone porch.

“So, what do you guys do for fun around here?” Max asked as they walked into Neil and Nikki’s front yard.

“Ooh! Usually Neil and I play hide and seek,” Nikki paused, cupping her chin with her thumb and index finger, “but I’m always seeking and he’s always hiding… and whenever I do find him he says ‘go away Nikki!’ and then he hides somewhere else. It’s fun though!”

Max snorted, looking over to Neil who blushed embarrassedly at the brute honesty, “sounds like a real blast."

“You wanna come inside? We can get a snack and then play video games… or something,” Neil offered.

“Sure,” Max replied simply.

They ended up in Neil’s room, watching the boy play some Mario game. Nikki was loudly cheering Neil on whilst Max watched with bated breath. He stole a glance at Neil, who was intently focused on beating the level. The room was dark, only lit up by the video game’s bright colours on the television, bringing out Neil’s face. Max instinctively grabbed onto Neil’s sweater and when the boy looked at him he quickly looked back to the screen. Neil simply shrugged and pressed on.

After a few hours of playing, Neil had made it to the final boss. He was fucking fantastic at this game, Max couldn’t deny it. He was a nerd, though- of course he’d be good at gaming.

“Come on Neil! Turn Bowser into turtle soup!” Nikki screamed, jumping up and down.

Right as the trio was about to face him, Carl burst into the room.

“Kids, it’s dinner time,” the children groaned, “Neil, why don’t you walk your friend home real fast?”

“Sure, dad, whatever,” Neil was so over it. Max held back a chuckle.

Nikki was making motor and train noises as she ran out of the room and down the stairs, Neil and Max walking after her casually. When they got outside, the autumn breeze had picked up, orange and red leaves blowing through the wind. The sunset was a cool orange and pink that reminded Max of the day David and Jasper won custody of him.

Neil gently squeezed Max’s hand and smiled at him as they reached the door.

“So I’ll,” Neil paused, “....we’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” the smaller boy shrugged, opening the door and stepping in. He turned back , “night.”

“Goodnight Max.”

Max shut the door and watched Neil trudge back next door. He felt something warm in his stomach at the thought of getting to hang out again tomorrow, but he wasn’t exactly sure what it was. Either way, he knew he felt one thing.

He was happy.


	3. That One Fucking Meme Song About Faces I Guess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> max has his first day of school. he sees lots of familiar faces which leaves him stumped, but there's one thing in particular leaving him the most confused at the end of the day.

Max couldn’t stand school. Not now, not ever. If he could gauge his hate properly, school would be at the very highest end of it. 

But could you blame him? The teachers were snobby and assigned too much work, the students were rotten to the core, the system was corrupt, not to mention the cafeteria food. If he had to pick, Max would take the Quartermaster’s slop in an instant. At least it looked somewhat edible, as opposed to the shit the schools gave them.

Max sighed as his parents waved their overly dramatic tearful goodbyes when he got on the school bus. The driver was an old woman, who gave him a nasty look under her layers of eyeshadow and eyebags. She reminded him of Pikeman. Honestly, he wouldn’t even be surprised if the two of them were somehow related, even distantly.

A familiar mess of brown hair in the first row of the bus sent a wave of relief washing over him. Max swung over and sat down next to Neil, who was looking out the window.

“Be careful,” he said without looking over, “Nikki will bite your ankles.”

“I’m gonna bite your ankles!” The green-haired girl echoed from the cold, dirty bus floor.

“Nikki, what the fuck are you doing?” Max asked, to which Nikki growled overexaggeratedly.

“She says she’s a dog or something,” Neil looked over at Max as the bus exhaled a puff of smoke from behind it and took off down the road.

Nikki made an ‘ugh’ noise and popped her head up. Neil jumped.

“I told you already Neil! I’m a PIRANHA dog!”

“Close enough?” Neil shrieked when Nikki bit his leg.

Max snorted, “down Nikki.”

She growled a bit and descended back down on the floor, crawling under the seat. Max assumed she sat down due to hearing the sound of the rubber being squished under weight.

“Ah, Nikki! You’re just in time to help me map out the trail to the dragon’s cave-”

Wait.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. WAIT.

Max threw his head back, looking over to find-

“Nerris?!” Max said, disbelief in his tone.

The person in mention looked up, a smile painting her face.

“Greetings, Max! It seems our quests have caused us to cross paths again,” she greeted him happily.

“I told you, Neil,” another voice caught Max’s attention. He looked over to the seat across from him to see Harrison. Before he could get a word in, Harrison continued, “if you believed in that spell that Nerris and I worked together to cast, Max would show up for sure-”

“OKAY,” Neil raised his voice, “thaaaaat’s enough Harrison-”

“Spell? What spell?” Max asked.

“Oh! Well, a few weeks ago, Neil was sad that you weren’t around, so Nerris and Harrison cast a spell and it was all like…” Nikki waved her arms around, “wooo...oooo, if you believe in the magic the forces will bring Max here…. Wooo-ooooo-”

“Nikki,” Neil said through gritted teeth.

“You…. missed me,” Max said flatly, in disbelief.

“No-”

“Yes,” Nerris, Nikki, and Harrison all said before Neil could say anything.

“Oh,” Max was at a loss for words, no one had ever missed him before, “thanks.”

“You’re,” Neil swallowed the lump in his throat, “you’re welcome.”

The rest of the ride was spent in silence, aside from Nerris and Nikki chittering excitedly and giggling. Max could have sworn he saw them holding hands as they got off the bus together. Harrison came up to Max and Neil, standing at Max’s side.

He paused, and then asked, “what classes did you get?”

“Not sure yet. They’re handing me my schedule inside.”

“Oh,” Harrison said flatly, then perked up a bit again, “well maybe we'll get a few classes together!”

“Oh yeah, that'd be wonderful,” Max rolled his eyes.

“Well either way… see you at lunch!” Once they entered the school the magician took off, disappearing into the crowd of children.

“I gotta grab my schedule,” Max nudged Neil, “don't wait up for me.”

Part of him did hope Neil would wait up, but that hope was quashed when the bell rang. The office lady kept complimenting Max as she was printing his schedule, calling him cute and exclaiming how much she'd love to pinch his cheeks. He tried to pay her no mind as he impatiently waited to get out of there.

He checked his schedule to make sure everything was in order. Good. Okay… first period, health class. 

Max realized he had no idea where anything was. This would just be a grand old time.

It took him about five minutes to find where he was supposed to go first, and that was only because a teacher who had been late to his own class was walking down the halls and caught him. He reprimanded Max- or tried to anyway, he stopped when he realized that the boy clearly had no interest in what he was trying to say. Instead he directed Max to his class and went on his way.

As he trekked down the hall to the other side of the middle school, Max hoped that he’d get a class with Neil or Nikki. Or both. Both sounded like a great idea. His luck seemed to turn that way already, anyway.

The door was cracked open when he arrived, thankfully, so it’d spare him the awkwardness of the whole class staring at him as he walked in. He slipped into the room and scanned for an open seat, as well as a familiar face. Max spotted an open seat in the back, but the seat over was occupied by somebody else and didn’t appear to recognize his newfound presence in the room as they chatted with someone else. However, the seat next to them was still free, so he pressed forward to sit down.

“And who might you be?”

Max froze in his tracks, and whirled around. The teacher was looming above him- tall and lanky, long black curls that hung down her blouse like vines and framed her makeup-covered face, her hands akimbo, a smile on her red-lipped mouth.

“I’m… Max,” he said nervously, “I’m new.”

“Oh, you’re the new student I’ve been hearing about?” She looked at her attendance sheet, and squinted, “Max…. what’s this say here?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Max waved her off, “can I sit?”

“Of course,” she scanned the room, “you can sit in front of Nurf!”

The boy paused, putting two and two together. He glanced at the back of the room and the first thing he noticed was the mess of orange hair belonging to the camp bully.

“Are you… fucking serious?”

The class gasped. Aside from Nurf, who was both used to Max’s constant use of vulgarity in inappropriate situations and used to doing it himself.

“You watch your language in this class, young man!” The teacher reprimanded him, and he rolled his eyes, slumping down in front of his old camp acquaintence.

“Hi to you too,” Nurf spat, offendedly.

“Hey Nurf.”

The bully didn’t respond, but Max could tell without looking at him that he was satisfied at the greeting.

The class went by awfully slow. The teacher was talking about diabetes and the dangers of eating too much junk food and fast food and such. Nobody was interested obviously, but if there was a list, Max would have been in the number one spot. He couldn’t have been more relieved when the bell rang. The students poured out of the classrooms and filled the hallway, going about their morning. Many seemed bored, but many were chatting loudly with their friends and laughing. The clanking and slamming of lockers began shortly after.

“Hey, Nurf,” Max nudged him as he exited the classroom. The taller boy looked down at him with a bored expression, seeming to mimic his own. He sighed and asked, “okay, do you know where I can find… this class? It’s reading and writing.”

He pointed to the second period listing and Nurf leaned over his shoulder.

“Yeah it’s, uhh,” he looked around, and then pointed at the hall that connected to the one they were in, “the third class on the right side.”

“Thanks,” Max gave him a soft nudge, and the two boys went on their ways.

“I told you, Neil,” an older voice came from the classroom, which Max assumed was the teacher. He didn’t hear the rest. He was caught up in excitement. Neil was in his second period? Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

He stepped in and looked around to find his pal, only to find that his Neil wasn’t in the class at all. Disappointment washed over him. What he WAS greeted with though was a surprise to him: Space Kid was trudging to one of the short rows of desks in the front row of the class, fishbowl helmet under his arm as he moved to place it disappointedly on the desk.

“Space Kid?” Max spat in disbelief and slight annoyance as he approached.

The boy turned and looked up, and his eyes immediately lit with excitement. He embraced Max, squeezing him tightly and shouting, “Max! You’re here!”

Max wheezed, shoving the smaller of the two off him, “yeah, I’m here, I’m here.”

“That means Nerris’s spell worked!” He threw his hands up excitably, “oh, Neil’s gonna be so happy when he finds out his wish came true.”

“Neil lets you hang out with him?” Max brushed off the obvious fact that Neil didn’t act like he didn’t exist after camp ended, as well as the fact that basically every single camper from his summer was going to the same fucking school. This was more interesting anyways.

“Well…. Sorta,” Space Kid tapped his chin, “it’s more like, he tells me we’re playing Hide and Seek and he always hides, and tells me to go away when I find him.”

Max chuckled, “so he does that to everyone?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” the space lover nodded as both boys sat.

As annoying as Space Kid was, it was comforting to see a familiar face in the class. Max always had difficulty in school; not because he didn’t try, he could if he wanted to. It was making friends that was the problem. At his old school he would get beat up and made fun of and ridiculed, and so forth. He hated it there.

After the embarrassment of having the teacher announce Max being a new student, he began to hand out textbooks. The task of the class time was to answer some questions in a packet. Space Kid seemed fucking eccentric to do so, which honestly annoyed him. He just read the story, filling out the answers as he went. 

Lunch wasn’t until after fourth period, apparently. Max had found that out as Space Kid walked him to his next class, babbling on about how good the school was and how he loved his teachers and other education system-related bullshit. 

Third period was math. Max’s least favorite subject. He was horrible at math, and avoided it at any costs. Even worse, when he peeked into the class (while ignoring Space Kid’s yammering), he didn’t see a single face from camp.

“Fuck,” Max swore to himself annoyedly, slumping down at a table in the back where a kid was using their phone with a groan. It was going to be a long period.

And a long period it was. The teacher never seemed to shut up. And when he did, the students had barely any time to work whatsoever. When the bell rang Max made a break for the door and dashed out to find his fourth period. This time he was on his own. Luckily, it was just down a few doors- art class. It was a fairly relaxed class, no pressure to complete assignments for a certain deadline, and usually the projects were… decently fun? Art was good all in all. Probably one of the only reasons to come to school every day.

Max stepped in and he was immediately greeted with Nerris and Harrison arguing over a paintbrush.

“Give it back, Harrison!” Nerris shouted.

“I had it yesterday, Nerris,” Harrison retorted exasperatedly.

“But I need it to paint the jewels on my quest map to activate the million-year door’s opening!”

Max raised an eyebrow, stepping forward to the arguing magic duo, “you realize there’s a ton of brushes just like that in the can over there, right?”

They paused, looking to Max, but then looking back at each other.

“Well, I had it first!” Nerris argued.

“No, I did!” Harrison shot back.

“I was born first!” Nerris cried.

Max sighed and left the two of them to it. He looked up at the whiteboard. Scribbled on it was “FREE DAY”. Max just assumed that meant that it “do whatever the fuck you want day”.

He liked that.

The child stalked around to find a seat, head craned down to look at the marble floor, covered in paint splatters and crayon marks here and there. Two telltale signs that the class was very, very old. He wondered, did Jasper and David go to this school growing up? Maybe they were taught in the exact same classroom Max was standing in right now-

“PLEASE, watch where you’re going!” An exasperated voice snapped at him.

“Oh, sorry-” he looked up and was pretty pissed at fate when he saw Preston, who was gazing back at him with surprised eyes.

“Jesus Christ, seriously? You’re here too?” Max asked, more of a statement than a question.

“Max, so good to see you!” Preston said, loudly, much to Max’s embarrassment.

“Yeah yeah, you too,” he rolled his eyes, “or some shit.”

“Well? What are you drawing? Let me see!” He held his hand out expectantly.

“I just got here like 2 fucking minutes ago,” Max replied, slapping his hand away, “do you really expect me to have something?”

“...Fair. BUT, once you’ve found your muse, I request that you show me!”

“Sure, okay.” Anything to get Preston off his back.

The class passed by quickly. Max was actually having fun for once. He, Harrison, and Nerris all watched Preston create his art, the latter two laughing whenever he’d quirk a face or make a weird noise or something. Max found it fairly amusing as well. He worked on his drawing a bit, but he wasn’t sure what he wanted it to be just yet. They all cleaned up before the bell rang, Preston shouting about his contempt for the time limit, having just found his muse or… whatever.

Lunch finally rolled around. The cafeteria was crowded, Max unable to find his friends within the sea of loud, sleep drunk children. He snuck off into the courtyard with his lunch, and laid on his back, watching the clouds sail through the blue sky. It was autumn, but it felt hot, like summer. After he ate his lunch he went back in, and spent the rest of the time trying to find Neil and Nikki. He managed to find Nurf and they talked for a couple minutes. Max and Nurf weren’t on the best of terms, but they shared a cynical, dark sense of humor that nobody either of them knew could rival. The bell rang, and a disappointed Max made his way to his second-to-last class of the day, gym.

They hadn’t supplied him with a locker or a set of gym clothes or anything, so Max had to use the spares in the bin. They smelled awful, but it was middle school- he wasn’t sure why he didn’t just expect it.

He exited the locker room and stood in line with the rest of the students, as the coaches took role and explained the day’s activity. They’d just be running. Fantastic. At least the nature hikes he was forced to go on during the summer helped him somewhat….. Not that he’d admit it, of course.

One of the coaches blew her whistle once she had lead the class outside, and the students began running. Max lagged behind, not severely, but just a little. He really didn’t want to do this. As he jogged, he spotted someone in the back, texting on her phone.

 

“....Ered?”

The teen looked up, a blank expression on her face.

“Oh hey, you’re the kid from camp.”

“Max,” he corrected, “are you telling me fucking everyone from camp goes to school here?”

“Not Dolph,” she responded, putting her phone in her shirt as the two former campers walked side-by-side, “his dad sent him to some boarding school or something. I don’t remember.”

“Thank God for that,” he rolled his eyes. Ered smirked a bit, but it was quickly replaced with her usual ‘cool kid’ face.

They spent the period running together, and Ered talked about her friends and home life and stuff. Max feigned interest and honestly briefly considered giving half a shit about the class to get away from her, but was relieved when his companion ultimately didn’t catch on. They said their goodbyes at the gym’s door when the bell rang, and departed until the next day.

The final class of the day- science. Max sighed and stood in front of the doorway, pushing himself to go in. He found an empty seat, and slumped down in it, resting his head on the table. He was exhausted, and absolutely couldn’t wait for the day to end.

“This seat taken?”

He looked up to see Neil, smiling nervously at him. Max’s eyes lit up, but he tried to quickly hide his excitement with a casual vibe.

“Nah, go ahead.”

Neil set his bag down on the table and sat on the stool next to him. Not a minute later, Nikki came running in and leapt over the tables to grab the seat next to Neil before the innocent kid trying to get it could take it.

“Jesus, Nikki!” Neil exclaimed.

“I just wanted to make sure nobody gave you a wedgie before I did!” She beamed at her (kind of?) stepbrother.

Max chuckled tiredly, relieved that his last class of the day would end on a good note. The class was boring, but Neil was willing to help him out, and the back and forth banter between him and Nikki was pretty amusing too.

When the bell rang, Nikki leapt from her seat, and shouted “don’t worry old Betsy, I’ll get the front seat from those nasty white radical Christian savages!” And she was off like a rocket.

“Fuck was that about?” Max asked.

“She likes the front seat of the bus.”

“Ah.”

Neil chuckled and packed his papers into his science binder, “you need help getting to the bus?”

“Yeah, kinda,” Max replied, slinging his bag across his shoulder.

The boys walked out of class together and out into the front of the school, pushing past the copious amounts of students just standing around and chatting like they had nothing better to do. Neil lead Max to the bus and swung into the first row seat that they had been sitting in this morning. Max threw his bag on the ground and sat next to him. Nikki was sitting in the opposite aisle seat, growling like an angry animal and glaring at anyone who passed by.

Neil stared out the window, opting to ignore his stepsister being weird. The bus started up and drove off away from the school.

“Did you know pretty much fucking everyone from camp goes here?” Max conversed.

“I’ve seen them all around,” Neil replies, “but I only really hang out with Nerris and Space Kid.”

“Hang out,” Max said, doing air quotes with his fingers, “you do the same thing with him that you do with Nikki.”

Neil huffed, “well you would too, if he was constantly pestering you!”

“True,” was all Max had to say.

Max wasn’t sure when it happened or why, but during the long beat between the two, Neil grabbed his hand and gently squeezed it. He didn’t look over at him, gaze focused on the sights out the window, so Max didn’t ask.

When their stop came, Nikki leapt down from the bus steps and huffed loudly, rushing to the front door of her house. Neil lead Max off the bus, and only then did he let go of Max’s hand.

“You ready to face the onslaught of excitement from David when he gets home?” Neil asked.

“Am I ever,” Max rolled his eyes, and Neil snorted.

“See you tomorrow, Max.”

“Yeah, sure.”

And the boys departed ways. Max stole a glance at the back of Neil’s head when he was walking off before walking up to his house. He opened the door, and tossed his bag down tiredly.

“Jasper, I’m gonna take a nap,” he called.

“Kay!” Jasper called back, from the kitchen, then he asked, “how was your first day?”

“Shitty,” he replied, and then headed upstairs to his room.

Technically, he should have been doing homework for math, but he could give less of a shit about his grades. He flopped down on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. The room still wasn’t fully unpacked, but it was ample for now.

Max’s mind drifted to Neil. He had been acting strange on the bus. Why was he holding his hand? No matter how much he racked his brain for the answer, nothing came. He supposed it was nice, but it was just confusing and left his brain frustrated.

But then again, nothing that happened really made sense today anyway, did it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS LEGIT THE LONGEST THING IVE EVER WRITTEN YOU BETTER A P P R E C I A T E M E


	4. You Should See The Other Guy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> max gets into a fight at school.

There were lots of little things that Max didn’t like. Loud noises, doors being opened and closed too loudly, and yelling. But there was one thing that he hated the most- being grabbed up by his shirt. He couldn’t handle it. It was an oddly specific trigger that he found to be stupid, and decided to never bring it up in hopes that it would just go away. The rest he found to be not as bad, and “normal”, even, so he didn’t try to worry too much about those.

It was that one particular thing though, that made him afraid to talk to people who were taller than him sometimes. Though, nobody who was tall that he knew would want to or even have the strength to grab him up like that, so eventually Max blew it off and forgot all about it.

The day where things went wrong actually started out pretty nicely.

He was sitting at the lunch table in the cafeteria, poking at his sandwich with his finger. David packed him lunches every day that were so well made- the crust cut off the sandwiches with none of the ingredients leaking out of the sides, a soda packed in the pouch on the flap neatly, and a few snacks organized into the bag. Max denied the acts of kindness, saying that he could do it on his own, but David insisted, and Max ended up coming to school with a lunch every single day.

It took a lot of getting used to, honestly.

Neil was running a bit late, as he was staying behind to take a test in his fourth period, and Nikki was off being Nikki somewhere (probably with Nerris), so Max was eating alone for the time being. He didn’t mind that much; it meant more time to eat and less time to waste talking. He figured if Neil didn’t show by the time he was done he would just go take a walk out in the courtyard, and watch the elementary schoolers play on the playground from across the chain link fence, on the field. It was usually pretty quiet out there, until the jocks showed up.

“Watch it,” speak of the devil, one had just bumped into his back walking by.

Max squinted, and turned to face him, “why don’t you watch it? I was here first, jackass.”

The boy had to be in eighth grade, judging by his height. He was fairly skinny, but had some clear muscle on his arms. He was dressed in the usual fuckboy attire- t-shirt, snapback cap, basketball shorts, Nike socks, and two-hundred dollar name brand sneakers. God, he looked so obnoxious.

“What the fuck did you just say to me, you piece of shit?” The boy spat back to the younger, getting in his face.

Max snarled, “I said watch it, are you deaf? Or are you just fucking stupid?”

The boy’s face reddened, clearly pissed by Max’s refusal to be intimidated by him. Some of his buddies were whispering and laughing. Max ignored them.

“You’d better apologize now,” he warned lowly.

“I’m not apologizing for shit! Can you go the fuck away now?”

The upperclassman yanked Max from his seat by his hoodie. Max felt his entire body spasm and a chill ran down his spine.

“I said apologize,” the boy repeated, venom laced in his words.

“I-” Max’s voice broke and he squeezed his eyes shut. He heard laughter, and the grip on his hoodie grew tighter. It was then that he just started flailing his arms around and yelling, trying to get the boy away from him.

“Shut the fuck up!” A sharp fist made contact with his face and his panic only increased tenfold.

“Bobby, stop!” A girl’s voice said, and he felt the shock factor from her shakes to the other boy.

The horrified chittering of other girls rang through Max’s ears and he tried tuning it all out, he wanted to be gone, he wanted to die, he was being shook some more and Bobby was yelling at him and he felt himself drop **oh no no no no no he was going to die he was going to die _no no no no no no please stop-_**

“Max? Max, wake up!”

Max flailed, and shot up in a panic, breaths escaping his mouth in heavy buckets, once glued eyes ripping open to take in his surroundings.

He was… in the nurse’s office? Neil and Nikki were gazing at him, worry in their eyes. His chest was visibly rising and falling, he could tell, but he chose to ignore it.

“What’s-” he cursed himself out mentally when his voice cracked, “what’s going on?”

“Some kid in the lunch room hit you,” Neil explained softly, “you blacked out when he dropped you on the floor. Some girls got Nikki and she beat him up.”

Max scanned Nikki. She was holding a tissue to her nose and it was stained with red. Her head showcased a dark bruise she was hurt and **it was all his fault oh god oh no oh no oh no-**

“I’m sorry,” he choked out, “I’m so fucking sorry.”

“Awww, Max,” Nikki waved her hand, “it’s okay!”

Neil nodded, then spoke reassuringly but coolly, a smile on his face, “you should have seen the other guy.”

“Where is he?”

“Principal’s office,” Nikki answered with a smug grin, “a bunch of kids testified that they witnessed him starting a fight with you.”

“I heard he’s getting suspended, and they’re considering removing him from the basketball team too,” Neil added, pointing a finger upwards.

Max felt himself relax at the thought of being away from the boy. He laid on his back, shielding his black eye with a clammy palm. The scene played out over and over in his head and he felt himself begin to shake again, throwing his other arm over his face to muffle a sob wracked from his lungs.

“Maxwell,” a soft voice said, unfamiliar to his ears. He quickly wiped his tears and sat up to face the voice.

It was a man who couldn’t be much older than thirty, with red hair and grey eyes, passing a clipboard back and forth in his hands. He gave a soft, trusting smile when Max’s gaze met his own.

“Do you mind coming with me? I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

Max grew visibly nervous. He caught this, and quickly continued with, “you’re not in trouble or anything. We’re not going to call the state or something like that.”

That eased his tenseness a lot, but not fully. Max shared a gaze with Neil and Nikki, who just shrugged. He sighed and rolled off the recovery cot and onto his feet, following the man. They went into a small office inside the main office.

“Have a seat, if you don’t mind,” Max felt shaky and dizzy, so he quickly took the invitation and flopped down on the nearest chair.

The man sat down on a chair by a computer, and clasped his hands together, pressing them to his lips for a moment before moving them to rest on his crossed legs.

“Well, Max, you can call me Mr. Hensy,” he finally introduced himself, “I’m the school guidance counselor.”

“...Hi,” Max greeted lamely.

“One of the girls who witnessed the fight you got in with Bobby came to me and said she was concerned with the way you reacted to the situation,” he started, then spun his chair to face the computer. He clicked the mouse a couple times and tapped a few keys before turning to look back at him, “and I’d just like to ask you a couple questions so I can get a good idea of how to help you. Is that okay?”

He knew he didn’t have a choice. As much as he wanted to say no, he knew he couldn’t opt out.

“Sure.”

“Alrighty then…”

Mr. Hensy asked him a bunch of questions about his home life, and his friends, and his school life. Max answered the questions honestly, some of the answers leaving him confused or concerned, but he pressed on with his questions anyway.

After a while, he just stopped asking questions, and the room grew quiet, aside from the mouse clicks and quick keyboard taps. Max wasn’t sure how long it had been since the fight, or since he had gotten in here, but it was starting to overwhelm him.

“Well,” the counselor finally turned back to face Max, “Max, I think that it’d be a good idea to refer you to a therapist. One you can see outside of school. I have your dad’s number here-”

“Does it say David?”

A pause, he looked back to the screen to check.

“Yes, this is David’s number.”

“Okay,” something honestly felt so weird about hearing David being referred to as his father, but he brushed it off.

“So I’m… gonna send you back to class,” he pulled out a yellow note which was an excused late pass, “and I’ll call your dad to pitch the idea to him. Sound good?”

“Sure,” he didn’t like the idea at all, but there wasn’t much he could do.

“Great,” Mr. Hensy handed him the note, and patted his head, “see you around, Max.”

The rest of the day went off really quietly. Some people gave Max looks, to which he tried his best to ignore. They’re probably Bobby’s friends, or something. Pieces of shit.

Max and Neil sat together on the bus again, but this time Max was silent. Neil tried to give him his space, scooting to the very end of the seat. Eventually, Max just leaned his head on Neil’s shoulder and eavesdropped the book he was reading. Neil jumped, and hummed nervously, but didn’t say anything.

David wasn’t usually back home until four-thirty or five, but today, when Max got home, he was sitting at the table, talking to Jasper. Max tightened the grip on his bag’s strap and gently set it down by the door, shutting the door as quietly as he could.

“Max,” he jumped as David spoke his name, “can you come here for a minute?”

The child nervously shuffled into the kitchen, eyes pointed down at the checker patterned floor.

“I’m sorry,” he said, before David or Jasper could get a word out.

There was a pause, then David sighed.

“You didn’t do anything, Max,” he reassured.

“And you aren’t in trouble, either,” Jasper added, “but can you sit down for a minute?”

With the reassurance in his thoughts, Max pulled out the empty chair between the two of them and sat down.

“The school counselor called me at work today,” David started calmly, “and he told me you got beat up today.”

“Yeah,” Max confirmed, “some kid got pissed that I was sitting there and he hit me.”

The redhead nodded, “but that’s not it, Max. He said you showed a lot of signs of some form of mental disorder, and he says he thinks it’s a good idea that we find you a therapist, or a doctor.”

“I don’t wanna,” Max said, and quickly looked to Jasper for help.

Usually Jasper would side with him, but this time he shook his head and said, “Davey’s right, Max. The way he described your reaction… that’s wack. You gotta get some kinda professional help so you don’t keep this all in again.”

The child groaned.

“I know there’s a nice office somewhere in town that sees children like you,” David said warmly, “I’ll check in and see how that will work out for us, okay?”

Max nodded, and got up, balling his fists into his pockets as he started to sulk upstairs.

“Max?” Jasper’s curious tone poked him in the back before he could get to his room.

“What do you want now, Jasper?” He craned his head so that he could view the man.

“...Hang in there, kay, kiddo? You got this,” his voice was confident like Nikki’s, and friendly like David’s, but it still held that same amount of Jasper magic that made him so different.

Max wasn’t sure how to respond, so he didn’t. He turned his gaze back forward and went upstairs. He suddenly felt really… drained, and exhausted. When he laid down he curled up and cuddled Mr. Honeynuts to his chest, and drifted off to sleep almost instantly.

When he woke up it was almost 7. Max groaned at the clock, and sat up. He did a double take when he saw a white plate with blue floral patterns holding a few cookies sitting on his dresser. A note with neat handwriting rested next to it. Max picked it up and read it to the best of his sleepy brain’s ability:

_Max,_  
_Davey made some crap you probably wouldn’t like for dinner. I hated it, but I had it anyways to make him happy. I think it worked, because he agreed to help me make these for you after we cleaned up._  
_Anyways, I’m real sorry that you got in a fight today. Kids’ attitudes really blow nowadays, huh? Hopefully that kid got what he deserved, because this was so not tubular._  
_Davey and I got your therapy situation worked out. Your first appointment is on Friday at 11. I’ll pick you up early and we can get lunch and go home afterwards. Hope your old man doesn’t cramp your style._  
_I hope you’re having a better evening, in any case. Eat up, sport. And don’t tell Davey I let you have cookies for dinner._  
_Jasper_  
_(PS: Don’t tell him I let you eat in your room either, thanks a million.)_

Max chuckled a bit as he bit into one of the soft chocolate chip cookies. He’d have to use this for blackmail later. What could he say? You never know when you need to call in a shot or a favor. Part of him almost felt bad for doing so, though. Jasper was really trying to be nice to him. He had been trying since the first day, and Max had to admit it was something that made him feel nice. Or at the very least, not so bad.

The rest of the week zoomed by quickly. Before he knew it, Max was in the car with Jasper, as he listened to some 90s band.

“Don’t you ever listen to modern music?” Max wondered aloud, annoyance in his tone.

“Only when Davey makes me,” Jasper responded coolly, then abruptly changed the subject, “are you excited for your therapy session?”

“I would rather die, Jasper,” the child said in return, earning an amused chuckle.

“Max, you don’t have to be embarrassed about seeing a therapist. It’s actually really beneficial to your mental health in the long run.”

“Why? I’m not gonna live past 18 anyways, so what does it matter?”

“I said that when I was your age,” Jasper glanced at him through the mirror, “and look at me now.”

“I refuse to believe someone as cheery as you thought something like that,” Max said stubbornly, “it’s bullshit.”

“Fate is a fickle thing, Max,” Jasper said softly, and after a pause, continued with, “but I have no doubt you’ll end up alright. I did, so I’m sure you will too.”

He didn’t respond. The rest of the car ride was filled with tunes from the 90s, and Jasper softly singing along to them. Jasper checked them in once they got to the waiting room, and he sat back in one of the chairs and waited, humming a tune with a smile on his face.

Eventually, the door opened, and a young woman with pale white skin, red hair and brown eyes looked around, adjusting her ponytail.

“Uh, Max?” She called.

Jasper nudged his son and Max groaned, getting up and walking over.

“I’m here,” he said boredly.

She smiled down at him after a surprised beat, and reached to shake his hand, which he returned, even reluctantly.

“Well, hello Max! I’m Madeline, your new counselor.”

“I’m thrilled,” he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he followed her back to her office.

The session started out fairly boring, until Madeline asked him a question that struck something in him.

“So…. you’ve been adopted? By a Jasper and David, uh-”

“Yeah,” he cut her off quickly, “it’s nice there. They care a lot.”

She smiled, “well, that’s good. What was your old home life like?”

Max paused, looking down at his shoes suddenly. He had blocked most of it out so it was difficult to say, but there was one particular incident his mind ran back to-

His father grabbing him up by the sweater and shouting at him until he cried, and then throwing him onto the floor. He shuddered, his breathing becoming heavy.

“It was bad. Really- it was really bad,” Max stammered, “but it wasn’t… it wasn’t really a big deal. My mom and dad, they uh- they hit me a lot. Sometimes they would like, beat me and shit. I got sent to school bleeding and bruised sometimes, and eventually they like, sent me to this camp for the summer and… they didn’t pick me up.”

“Oh,” was all Madeline could say. She dashed some things down onto the clipboard she was holding, in a manner that reminded him of Mr. Hensy.

“Yeah,” he choked up, “now whenever certain things happen, like- when I hear certain noises or get certain feelings I get really fucking anxious and panic badly. It’s bad.”

She nodded, and scribbled more onto her clipboard, “do you get flashbacks to your old home when you hear these noises or get these feelings?”

“Yeah,” he answered honestly. Madeline clicked her tongue and wrote some more.

“Sounds a lot like PTSD,” she said softly once she had finished.

“PT… what?” Max cocked an eyebrow.

“PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder. A lot of the things you’re experience seem to stem from your early life living with your birth parents, Max. You react the way you do because you feel like you’re in the same situation as you were before. You aren’t sure how to cope with these things and accept the trauma, so you lash out on instinct to protect yourself.”

Max was silent.

“I don’t have enough information to properly diagnose you quite yet,” she continued, “but I’m almost certain this is a case of post traumatic stress disorder.”

When the session ended finally after a long ninety minutes of talking back and forth and reopening old wounds, Max’s therapist finally lead him back to the waiting room, where she greeted Jasper and filled him in on the situation. Max kicked at the carpet, just wanting to go home.

“I’ll see you in two weeks, Max,” Madeline smiled at him, and he just looked at her.

He waited at the corner at the bus stop after Jasper took him home. Once Neil and Nikki stepped off the bus, he filled them in on the situation.

“Jeez,” Neil whistled lowly, “that sucks.”

“Yeah,” he paused, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Neil shrugged, “it’s not like it’s your fault or something.”

“Yeah!” Nikki bounced up behind Neil, “it’s not like this changes anything about you anyways, right? You’re still the same old Max!”

Neil nodded in agreement.

“I guess you’re right,” Max was silent for a moment, before he let another word slip from his mouth.

“...Thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS 12:30 IN THE MORNING ON A THURSDAY YEEHAW


	5. Neil 2.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> max finds out that he and space kid have more in common than he realizes.

“You’re going away for the whole weekend?” Max asked as his friend exasperatedly packed a spare shirt into his backpack.

“Yeah,” Neil replied flatly, “mom’s taking me for the weekend.”

“Is she nice?”

“She’s,” Neil froze. A chill ran down his spine at the remembrance of the last time he slept over at his mother’s. He shook his head quickly, “not the best.”

“Oh,” Max wasn’t sure how to express his concern, so it came out sounding kind of like apathy, “I hope she fucks off.”

“Me too,” the taller boy slung the bag over his shoulder after zipping it up, turning to face his smaller companion, “Nikki is staying at Nerris’s for the weekend, you sure you’ll be alright here alone?”

“I’ll get by,” Max assured him, as they started walking, “or something. I don’t really care.”

The upstairs was dimly lit by a single bright lamp on a table. Neil quickly turned it off, lest he hear complaints on his way out the door, following Max down the stairs and out the front door onto the lawn. The boys chatted idly for a few minutes until a red car came screeching up the road, stopping in front of the two of them.

“That’s her,” Neil said disappointedly.

Max placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and they shared a look. Neil smiled a bit at the action and, gripping his bag, he walked over to the car and opened the door.

He gave one last glance back to Max and before getting in, he spoke, “see you Sunday night.”

“Yeah.”

The car was off down the road like a rocket before Max even knew it. With his two friends gone, there was nothing left to do but go back home and laze around. Maybe annoy David. Yeah, that sounded like a good plan. Max started to walk back to his house, satisfied with his quick choice of plans for the day. He paused, however, as he saw someone running down the sidewalk.

Oh fuck, it was Space Kid.

Max groaned in annoyance, knowing that he’d been spotted and that he’d have to hear him talk now. As he approached, he halted his soft “vrrrr”ing noise, lowering the space ship toy he was playing with.

“Howdy, Max!” He greeted with his usual cheerfulness.

“Hi,” the other certainly didn’t return the enthusiasm.

“Have you seen Neil? I wanna ask him to fix my rocket with me,” he gestured to the toy, “we’ve been having some troubles with the engine!”

“He’s out of town, or some shit,” Max replied, “staying with his mom over the weekend.”

“Oh,” he deflated, then perked up again, “well, what about Nikki?”

“Staying with Nerris.”

“Aw man….” his face fell again, but perked up yet again, and Max knew exactly what was coming, “well, what about you Max?! Do you wanna play with me?”

“Not really,” Max answered honestly, “but I have a feeling you aren’t going to go away until I agree to.”

“That’s right!” The smaller boy exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips proudly.

Max groaned, “fine, let’s just get this over with.”

“Yay! Okay, let’s go to my house. You can meet my parents,” Space Kid said excitedly, turning heel and running.

“Wonderful,” the taller child muttered, following him at a walking pace. 

The two boys trekked a few blocks down. When they finally arrived at Space Kid’s house, it wasn’t anything like Max had envisioned it to look like.

The house was small, a single story tall, painted a greyish purple. The front yard was littered with weeds and dead grass, leaves from the trees scattered everywhere. A car was parked in the driveway, and Max assumed another was parked inside the garage.

All in all, the place was a fucking mess.

It was even worse that Space Kid didn’t seem to notice, cutting through the brown grass that crunched under his boots as he walked up to the door. Max shook off whatever it was he was feeling in that moment and followed, fists shying away in his jacket pockets as his companion opened the front door. It made an eerie creak that caused Max to cringe.

“Mom! Dad! I’m home!” The child called through his fishbowl helmet.

No answer.

Space Kid just smiled, “I’m sure they’re just busy. You can meet them later.”

Max felt something jerk and twist in his stomach. Was this…. Empathy? He had been told about empathy and sympathy by David, while the man was explaining to Max why his significant other felt tons of emotions for many things, even objects. Hyperempathy, David had called it. Jasper called it a curse. He said Max was lucky that he didn’t feel as many emotions. Max felt things, just… not in the same capacity many people did. David told him it was a side effect of low empathy.

But this was new, this was something Max had never felt before. His heart wrenched at the treatment Space Kid’s parents gave him. And it made him angry. So very angry. He was a good fucking kid, what did he do to deserve this-

“Do you want a snack?” Max was snapped out of his thoughts by the other boy, still smiling his big dimpled smile.

“Uh, sure,” he replied, and Space Kid nodded, hopping into the kitchen as if he were an astronaut in zero-gravity.

There was the sound of digging through the pantries and the fridge before his friend returned with a dim look on his face.

“Houston, we have a problem.”

“What’s up?”

“My parents forgot to go shopping again. We kind of don’t have anything to eat,” he admitted, awkwardly fidgeting with his toy, “I hope that’s okay.”

Max felt angry tears well up in his eyes. Not because he wasn’t getting a snack, hell no, he wasn’t THAT selfish. He just couldn’t stand to see people being put through what he had dealt with, especially someone like Space Kid. As annoying as he was, as David-like as he could be at times, he was one of the only people who gave a shit about Max’s existence, and that was something he appreciated. He hated that he couldn’t give back that same satisfaction.

“It’s fine,” Max forced out, and opted to try and distract the two of them from the empty kitchen situation, “where’s your room?”

The space lover immediately perked back up, and rocked idly on the backs of his feet as he replied, “down the hall! Do you wanna see it?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“Woohoo!” Max’s hand was grabbed softly by him in a way that reminded him of how Neil would hold his hand sometimes, and he sighed gently, “we’re entering orbit, watch out!”

He lead Max into his room. It was pitch black, illuminated by a bunch of star-shaped fairy lights. Glow in the dark stars were stuck on his ceiling. All around was space themed things. Even the boy’s comforter had a picture of a black hole on it.

“Welcome to the control room,” Space kid placed his hands on his hips proudly, mimicking their earlier conversation back at Max’s house, “make yourself at home!”

Max tried flicking the lightswitch. The light didn’t turn on.

“Oh,” he waved his friend off, “that hasn’t worked for months now.”

“Months?” Max said exasperatedly, turning to face Space Kid, “your parents haven’t changed your lightbulb in MONTHS?”

He paused, as if thinking it over, then nodded, “yeah, they don’t really have time for it. They don’t have time to do a lot of things for me actually.”

Max swallowed the lump in his throat, “like what?”

“Like, uh, they don’t do my laundry very often,” Max’s eyes scanned his space suit, as he counted off his parents’ crimes on his fingers- he never noticed, it was made of cardboard, “some nights they don’t cook dinner. I have to walk home when I miss the bus. Sometimes my alarm doesn’t wake me up but they don’t send me to school.”

“That’s,” Max paused, “really fucking shitty.”

“Yeah, but it works out,” he said with a smile, “my uncle Buzz comes to visit me all the time! He always brings me cool new stuff and makes me food and helps me do my laundry and stuff.”

“But don’t you get tired of your parents not paying attention to you?”

“Sometimes,” Space Kid nodded to the other boy, “but I keep the people who do care about me close, so I don’t ever have to worry about being alone.”

Max didn’t respond, watching as his companion walked over to his shelf to place his rocket down for display. 

“Sorry that your parents are pieces of shit,” he finally managed, “they can fuck off.”

“Fair.”

Max sat down on the bed, slouched over as he rested his elbows on his legs. He hated feeling like this, but he couldn’t imagine how Space Kid possibly felt under that positive skin. 

“Hey,” Max said casually, “you wanna come over for dinner? David’s cooking is shit, but it’s something.”

“Would he be okay with it?” 

“Yeah, but if he wasn’t, it wouldn’t stop me anyways.”

This earned a snort from the other child, as he smiled his smug dimpled grin. The two children hung out for about an hour or so, Space Kid doing most of the talking about space facts. Max wouldn’t tell him, but some of them were actually somewhat interesting. 

He lead his excitable companion to his house as the sun began to fall, making the hills its grave. Max was decently tired, but Space Kid didn’t seem tired at all. Something about no astronaut gets tired. Some shit like that. Max wasn’t paying attention for most of it.

He opened the front door and yelled, “David, Space Kid’s coming over for dinner!”

“Alrighty! Sounds good to me!” David called back from upstairs.

It was a while until dinner was actually ready. Jasper and David readily greeted their guest and pampered him. Jasper asked him lots of questions, which Space Kid proudly answered. They got along very well. By the time dinner had finished, Jasper had offered to walk him back home.

“You sure you can handle cleaning up?” Jasper asked, “I can stay behind and do it-”

“We’ve got it, Jasper,” David assured, kissing him on the cheek, “just be safe out there!”

“Alright, if you’re sure.”

“Bye Max!” Space Kid yelled to his friend. Max waved in response, as the door shut.

David and Max stood side-by-side for a moment and then wordlessly got around to cleaning the table and the kitchen. 

“Hey Max?” The redhead posed the conversation starter questioningly.

“What is it, David?”

“That was a really sweet thing you did today-” David began, but Max quickly cut him off.

“Shut up David.”

David smiled at his son and shook his head, “okay Max.”

Max glared at him in response, but softened when he realized something-

David was proud of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm the leader of the space kid protection squad *dabs*
> 
> there should be another chapter up sometime this evening but we'll see how my motivation is owo;;


	6. TW: Jewelry Boxes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> neil visits his mom for the weekend.
> 
> (THERES A LOT OF MISGENDERING/TRANSPHOBIA IN THIS CHAPTER so if youre triggered by that kinda stuff i do suggest not reading until chapter 7!)

If there was one thing Neil got lucky with, it was that his deadname wasn’t a common one. At camp, the kids knew him as Neil. The awkward nerdy boy who was the cynical Max’s right hand man along with the eccentric nature girl, Nikki. Nobody he had classes in school with shared his name, and his father had convinced his teachers to call him Neil and use he/him at the start of middle school. He passed well in appearance, so his peers knew him as Neil. And that was just who he was to everyone- Neil. 

All except to one person.

“Ariella,” his mother chimed as they pulled up to a stoplight, and he cringed, “Ariella Monroe, are you listening to me?”

The famous deadname + middle name combo. Lovely. His mother always did that to him when she was angry or upset with him. It always got his attention.

“Yeah, mom,” he lied, sighing in exasperation.

“Good,” she huffed, continuing to drive as the light turned green.

Neil sighed and leaned back in his seat, trying to tune her out again. Unfortunately, his attempts didn’t work, and were crushed when she slipped a CD into the car radio and began loudly singing along to some country bullshit. Neil groaned and plugged his ears. Being in the camp mobile with David and listening to the Farmer’s Almanac was better than this. The white torture lasted at least 3 more songs, before his mother settled down. But when she did, Neil wished she hadn’t.

“So… do you still have autism?” She asked.

Neil huffed, “it’s asperger's, mom. And yeah, I do. It just doesn’t go away.”

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, “well your asperger’s doesn’t go away, but it looks like your head of beautiful hair did! I can’t believe your father let you chop your hair off like that.”

Neil wanted to scream at her. He forced himself to calm down so she didn’t do something like leave him for dead at a truck stop. Neil didn’t remember a lot of his earlier years, but he had no doubt his mother had probably tried that at least once. She was a demon in a white suburban PTA mom skin suit. So plain and boring at first glance, but a swirling hellstorm when you disagreed with her even over the littlest of things.

When they arrived at her house, Neil was more than overjoyed. He grabbed his bag and rushed inside, running into the guest room and shutting his door. The room was ample to his needs; plus, he’d brought along a laptop for the weekend, so he could just spend as much time in his room as he wanted.

“Lunch is soon, Ariella!” His mom called from the living room, and he groaned.

“Okay, mom!” He called back. For the while, Neil was just happy to get away from her.

After a while of just aimlessly wandering on the internet, he started to think about his parents. Specifically, why they divorced. He considered it a very traumatic experience, and didn’t try to think about it, having blocked it out. Now that he thought about it, he blocked a lot of his childhood out, didn’t he? He blamed his mother for that. She made his life hell.

Neil looked up at the vanity that was pushed up against the wall. Sitting on it was a small wooden jewelry box encrusted with faux jewels all over it. Something in Neil’s stomach twisted when he saw it, but the feeling only helped his curiosity to grow stronger. He stood up and pressed on over to it, picking it up in his hands.

Then he remembered.

_April 14th was Ariella’s favorite day of the year. Not Halloween, when she got to eat a lot of candy, not Hannukah…. Okay, well, maybe April 14th was her second favorite, because her mother was American and also celebrated Christmas. But it was a close second! And that was what mattered. It was a very special day, because it was the day she was turning 11! She was giddy with excitement as her parents handed her off her gifts._

_“Happy birthday, Ariella,” her mother said softly, handing her a box. It was yellow, wrapped tightly with reddish-pink ribbon._

_Ariella eagerly untied the ribbon and tossed the lid off, picking through the pieces of wrapping paper. Her face scrunched, and fell when she saw the gift._

_It was a wooden jewelry box. The jewels didn’t even seem reasonably real. The gluing job was done horribly, bits of glue smooshed out here and there. When she opened it, there was a small mirror on the lid. The child simply sighed, disappointed._

_“What’s wrong, Ariella? Don’t you love it?”_

_“Not… really,” she was always taught to be thankful for what she got, but this was just bullshit right here._

_“Well, why not?” Her mother seemed offended._

_“It’s just… so girly,” she sighed out._

_“Well, you’re a girl,” she said with a slight venom, and Ariella grimaced, “you have to like girl things. That’s just how it is, sweetheart.”_

_Ariella looked over to her father, who returned the gaze, before turning to look at his wife._

_“Sweetheart, have you considered-” she glared at him, and he faltered for a moment but didn’t back down, “that maybe, Ariella doesn’t want to like shopping and clothes and… everything that you like?”_

_She scoffed, “of course she wants to! She’s just confused right now.”_

_Ariella swallowed the lump in her throat. It hurt like hell. She got up and walked out of the room, ignoring her mother yelling at her. When she got into her room, she curled up on the bed and started to cry. She hated her mother sometimes. She was so demanding and mean. Maybe she didn’t want to like shopping and clothes! Maybe she liked science and reading! The only person who seemed to understand that was her father._

_“Ariella?” There was a knock on her door. It was her father._

_“Come in,” she spoke softly, and he opened her door._

_“Sweetheart,” Carl sat down on the bed next to her, and she laid her head on his lap. He stroked her hair, continuing to speak, “your mother is… she just… she doesn’t understand things sometimes. She wasn’t raised in the best environment.”_

_“Why can’t she try to understand, dad? I don’t get it.”_

_“I don’t either,” he said after a beat of silence, “but I just want you to know that no matter what, I’ll always support you. You’re my child, and I’ll love you until the day I die.”_

_Ariella smiled, and after a moment of processing, she spoke in response, “thanks dad.”_

_After her birthday, her mom placed the jewelry box on her dresser. Every time she went to grab clothes, she saw it. Every time she saw it, it made her stomach twist with anger and disgust._

_A few months after she turned 11, Ariella refused to continue living as a girl. She hated it._

_“Mom? Dad?” She approached her parents, holding the hated jewelry box in her hands._

_“Yes?” Her mother just looked down at her, while her father turned to look at her, a smile on his face._

_“I’m not a girl.” He was Neil, not Ariella._

_The house fell scarily silent. Neil felt his heart pound._

_“What… did you just fucking say?” His mom spat, face red._

_“I… I said-” he winced when she grabbed his arm, “I’m not a girl-”_

_“Yes you are!” She shrieked, “as long as you live under MY roof, you follow MY rules, girl!”_

_“But I’m not a girl!” He cried, “I’m not Ariella! I’m Neil!”_

_She was practically foaming at the mouth as she dragged Neil to the door, tossing him out in the pouring rain._

_“Sarah-Beth, stop!” He heard his father yell, “let our child make his own way in life!”_

_“Shut up, Carl! Either she lives here as Ariella or she can find somewhere else to live!”_

_Neil clutched the box to his chest, sinking down onto the ground, back pushed against the wall of the house. It was cold, and he was tired and hungry. He just wanted to go to sleep. Go to sleep and never wake up. This was a mistake. He was a mistake._

_It had to have been at least a half an hour before the fighting stopped, and when it did, Carl came out with two rolling suitcases in his hands._

_“Neil, buddy, can you get my car keys for me? They’re in my back pocket.”_

_Neil looked up at him, teary-eyed._

_“Where are you going?” He was going to die. He was going to die his father was going to leave him with his mom and she was going to kill him oh no oh god-_

_“We’re going to stay at a hotel until we can find another place to live,” he said softly, “your mother isn’t going to soften up soon.”_

_“I’m going too?”_

_“You’re going too,” he echoed in assurance, then tossed his head at the suitcase in his left hand, “I packed your things up for you.”_

_Neil got up and grabbed the keys from his dad’s pocket, hurrying through the rain to unlock the car door. He sat in the backseat quietly, and when his father loaded up the car, they drove off. Neil drifted off into sleep, feeling safe in his father’s presence._

Neil tossed the box onto the vanity and turned away quickly, hugging his chest. He was breathing heavily, holding back a sob. He hated being here. He hated his mom, even two years later after he fully transitioned and passed well, he still felt fake around her. Knowing he would never truly be Neil to her hurt the most.

“Ariella, it’s time for lunch!” She called from the kitchen. Neil groaned.

“Okay, mom,” it took all the power in the world for his voice not to crack as he called back to her.

Neil shut his laptop and walked out into the kitchen, sitting at the table. His mom put a plate of rice and beans in front of him, and he had to hide his groan.

“Growing girls need to eat healthy,” she said. Neil kept himself from yelling again, but he could only put up with so much.

“Yeah, sure,” he mumbled.

The rest of the weekend was no better. His mom pestered him into going shopping with her. In the car she asked him a million questions, which he answered many dishonestly. He wished Max were here. He’d probably shout at her and tell her to fuck off. Neil put up with a reasonable amount of bullshit, but Max never did. That was something he admired about him. As well as his smile, his voice, the third space silence they could comfortably go to when they were on the phone….

….Wait, what was he doing?

“So Ariella,” Neil would have killed for a bridge to jump off at that point, “do you like any boys?”

“Uh,” Neil choked up when his mind immediately went to Max again upon hearing the question, “t...there’s this one guy.”

“Oh?”

“His name is Max,” Neil explained, “we met at summer camp and he moved next door to us. I think I might like him.”

Sarah-Beth paused, then giggled, “well, he’d be downright silly not to fall for a wonderful girl like you!”

Neil cringed.

“He probably doesn’t like me.”

“Well why not?” She questioned, but continued before he could respond, “he’s a guy and you’re a girl, it’s obvious he’s friends with you because he wants to date you.”

Neil felt like dying, “I don’t think it works that way, mom.”

“Sure it does! Just play hard to get and he’ll be all over you,” she said, and Neil felt his face go red.

“Mom,” he mumbled, “please stop.”

She scoffed, “fine. You’re such a rude girl sometimes, Ariella.”

The thought that Max would have definitely clocked her right then and there helped Neil to calm down.

That Sunday passed by slowly. The constant misgendering did nothing to help. When they left the mall however, it was sunset. Neil was exhausted, emotionally and physically. He almost immediately conked out when his mom started driving.

“Ariella,” his mom said after a long ride of silence, “we’re home.”

Neil stirred and his eyes opened, looking around.

“We’re home,” she repeated, and Neil sighed in relief, grabbing his bags.

“I’ll see you again soon, okay Ariella?” His mom said, and he winced.

“Sure mom,” Neil rolled his eyes as he got out of the car.

When he got in the house, Neil trudged into the living room. His dad was sitting on the couch, watching television. His eyes ghosted to Neil and he smiled happily.

“Neil! Welcome home buddy,” he greeted, “how was your weekend.”

“Terrible,” he replied, and Carl’s face fell.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

There was a silence between the two, before Neil broke it by speaking up.

“Hey dad?”

“Yeah?”

Neil pressed forward, quickly and tightly wrapping his arms around the man and squeezing him in the tightest hug his frail limbs could manage. The act was reciprocated after a moment’s hesitation.

“Thanks for accepting me, dad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaah sorry i couldnt get to this yesterday like i said i would! i was very tired and i couldnt focus well at all
> 
> also: im not jewish, so if i portrayed the celebration of both hannukah and christmas incorrectly or offensively PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me and ill fix it.
> 
> also this chapter is not a trigger joke. if you make triggered jokes ill eat you
> 
> ily guys sorry for the long note


	7. The True Boss Of Dungeons And Dragons Is Your Own Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> nikki stays over at nerris's house.
> 
> (there's a brief mention of homophobia/violence, so you don't have to read that if you don't want to!)

Nikki wasn’t sure when or how she began to feel the way she did about Nerris. Maybe it was when she realized how their absolute enthusiasm for things they were passionate about matched well. Or maybe how Nerris hugged her as tightly as her 12-year-old strength would allow, before waving a tearful goodbye, driving off into the late August afternoon. 

Either way, the two grew close during their time at camp, and even closer when they found out that they lived about thirty minutes away from each other. Throughout the course of the month and a week they’d been in school, Nikki had already visited countless times. Nerris’s parents welcomed her with open arms, despite her wild nature. Candy, her mother, had apologized for it before, but Nerris’s parents had both agreed they found it cute.

Right now, the two were in Nerris’s room, Nerris trying to explain Dungeons and Dragons to Nikki. The concept sounded very interesting to her, but was otherwise rather boring. She hated tabletop games! She preferred being able to run around out in the open and jump and run and stuff. There just wasn’t much excitement to sitting around in a cramped room when adventures could be happening!

“Nerris,” the smaller of the two whined, “can we go outside now?”

Nerris scoffed, and pushed up her glasses, “Nikki, please! A mage has no time for rolling in the grass. We’ve got to save the world!”

“Well this warrior has time for it,” Nikki replied, pointing to herself with her thumb, as she hopped off the bed, “and she’s going to go outside whether you like it or not!”

“Noooo!” Nerris’s arms snaked around Nikki and she pulled her back, the two of them both protesting with their strength to get their way. In the long run, Nikki was the strongest of the two, so she was able to worm her way out it.

“You shall not pass!” Nerris’s tone became playful, grabbing her plastic sword and gently hitting Nikki’s back with it.

She gasped, and overdramatically fell to the ground, before yelling, “I’ve been hit! Curse you, Nerris the Cute!” Nikki stifled a giggle and squeezed her eyes shut, tongue lolling out of her mouth as she played dead.

She heard Nerris snort, as she dropped to her knees, “I’ve been a selfish fool! My warrior… gone! And it’s all my fault! Noooooo!”

Nikki couldn’t hold back her laughter. She curled up on her side, laughing at their acting. She was glad that their disagreement didn’t end up as a big fight. She hopped back up onto her feet, throwing her arms up in the air.

“I’m alive!” She exclaimed, and Nerris fake-gasped, standing.

“Warrior Nikki! I’m so glad you’re okay,” she said, “let’s never ever fight again!”

“Agreed,” the two shared a tight hug.

They stayed glued in that position for a while longer, then Nikki suddenly broke off, her eyes bright.

“I have an idea!” She exclaimed, then added, “what if we played Dungeons and Dragons… but outside? We could go on our own quest!”

Nerris immediately smiled excitedly, and nodded, holding her sword up mid-sentence, “that sounds like a great idea! Let’s go!”

“Yeah!” They both cheered, then ran downstairs into the kitchen to go to the backyard.

“Hold it,” Nerris’s dad said without looking up from his paper, stopping the two children, “where are you two off to so late?”

“Ah, greetings elder one!” Nerris bowed, and Nikki noticed her father chuckle silently, “the lady and her companion are off to go on an adventure.”

He tsk’d gently and shook his head with a smile, pointing to the clock. It was nearly seven PM.

“Settle down little questers, you can embark tomorrow,” his voice was gentle, and he looked up to his wife, who was readily cutting up a cooked steak to serve to the four of them, “not to mention, all party members always need to be well-fed or they’ll run out of strength.”

The mage child’s eyes lit up, “it gives us plus five dexterity!”

“Exactly.”

Nikki didn’t understand, but she smiled anyways, happy to see her friend so overjoyed, and shouted, “yay for dexterity!”

“Settle down, kids,” Nerris’s mom said softly, as she set the plates down on the table, “dinner is ready.”

The girls cheered and sat down at the table. Before anyone could even begin a typical family dinner conversation, Nikki was scarfing down her food. Nerris and her parents all exchanged amused looks at her. Nerris laughed, which caused her father to erupt into laughter as well. Nikki wasn’t sure what was going on, but she stopped eating to laugh along. Nerris’s mom just rolled her eyes and smiled, shaking her head as she picked up her fork and began eating.

“Ah,” the man sniffled, and wiped an amused tear from his eye with a warm smile, “it’s always such a good time when you’re over, Nikki.”

“Yeah!” Nerris rose her fork, and Nikki craned her head to look to her, “when you’re here, we have all sorts of great quests and adventures!”

“Awww,” Nikki waved her hand, clearly flattered. She deepened her voice, then spoke, “thank you, thank you very much!”

Nikki looked over at Nerris’s mom as she giggled. Nikki perked up and beamed; she had never been able to make her laugh before. Nikki considered this one of her greatest achievements in life so far.

The family and Nikki chatted happily as dinner progressed. Nikki spoke of Max’s moving into the neighborhood, and of the adventures they had on Max’s first week of school. Then she brought up something that struck the whole house odd.

“And Neil’s constantly talking about Max! I mean, constantly!” the green-haired girl exclaimed, raising her fork and waving it in small circles to emphasize her point, “it’s not normal guy stuff from what my mom tells me. Guys talk about beating up other guys and being the strongest and driving cars and stuff. He talks about Max’s smile and his voice and all that mushy junk. I swear, it’s almost like he likes him or something.”

Nerris and her parents fell silent. They all exchanged looks, but this time, it wasn’t of amusement. But at the same time it wasn’t anything bad. More a neutral face. Nikki was confused.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“No, Nikki,” Nerris’s father said softly, with a shake of his head. He paused, seemingly to drum up the proper words to say in this situation. When he could find none, his gaze landed on his spouse, who sighed.

“Nikki,” she began, and Nikki tilted her head, curiously, “the thing is, no matter who your brother-”

“Neil,” she corrected. She didn’t like when people called him her brother, and she knew he felt the same way about people calling her his sister. She was fine with that.

“Right, Neil,” she paused again, then continued, “no matter who Neil ends up liking, you should always be supportive of him. There are going to be a lot of people who will want to hurt Neil very badly for his decisions-”

“What!” Nikki shrieked, and the whole family jumped. The girl slammed her hands on the table, demanding, “who would want to hurt Neil?! He’s just a big dork!”

“There… there are a lot of people in this world, Nikki,” Nerris’s father said quietly, “a lot of people who disagree with the lifestyle that some people choose to live. You have to allow yourself to be one of the people who say ‘this isn’t okay, you can’t treat someone like this’ for Neil.”

The green-haired girl settled back into her seat, eyebrows furrowed as she tried to comprehend what her friend’s parents were saying. After a moment, she spoke, “so, you’re saying I should stand up for Neil if people try to bully him for liking Max?”

“Exactly! That’s what we’ve taught Nerris to do,” the man said with a smile, patting his daughter’s head. She smiled proudly, “she’s quite the little warrior.’

“Justice always prevails!” Nerris exclaimed.

“Yeah!” Nikki agreed happily. 

The rest of the night went pretty normal. Thank goodness.

That night, Nikki laid in her sleeping bag, restless. She couldn’t stop thinking about what Nerris’s parents had told her that evening. Why would Neil liking Max even be any different than if he liked a girl? It didn’t make any sense to her. No answer she could think of could put her mind at peace. In fact, wouldn’t it be easier if Max and Neil got together? That would ensure they wouldn’t start hating each other any time soon, right? The more she racked her brain the less answers she got - so frustrating! Nikki opted to ask for an answer instead, in the only way she knew how.

“Nerris,” Nikki spoke up, “are you awake?”

There was a pause, before Nerris whispered in response, “yeah.”

“Is there a difference between a guy liking a girl and a guy liking a guy?”

Nerris sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes, “it’s called being gay.”

“How many gays are there, though?”

“A lot, Nikki,” she answered, then paused, “aren’t Max’s parents gay?”

“I thought they were just roommates…”

Nerris giggled. Nikki felt her face heat up as she popped the next question.

“Is it… possible for girls to like girls too?”

“Yes,” Nerris whispered, but her tone seemed brighter now that Nikki was catching on, “in many circles, girls who like other girls are called lesbians. Guys and girls can also like both, that’s called being bi.”

“Wow,” she whispered in amazement, and then got up.

“Where are you going?” Nerris put her glasses on.

“Outside,” Nikki answered, “I can’t sleep. Usually, looking at the stars helps me.”

“I’ll come too,” her mage companion took her hand and she smiled, looking into her eyes. They snuck down the (thankfully) carpeted stairs, initiating the beginning of the quest that they had hoped to embark on earlier in the day.

Nikki gently unlocked the glass door and pushed it to the side, and the girls sat on the porch. It was cold, the night’s autumn wind blowing a breeze past them. They scooted closer to the other for warmth and looked at the dark sky, the stars shining from so far away.

“What did we ever do to deserve space?” The smaller girl asked. Her mind flitted to images of the day that they ‘sent Space Kid into space’, and she smiled.

“I don’t know,” Nerris leaned her back against Nikki’s arm, hugging her legs to her chest to warm herself up, “but I love it! The stars are the fallen heroes who lived before us, watching over us for protection.”

Nikki’s eyes sparkled and she jumped up, running over to the fence. Nerris squeaked and got up, rushing after her.

“What are you doing?”

 

“I wanna catch a star!” She exclaimed as she tried to jump on the fence.

Nikki’s hand slipped and she lost balance, falling from her short-lived climbing experience. She landed right on Nerris, and the two tumbled into the grass. Their eyes met and they quickly distanced themselves from the situation.

When they heard Nerris’s father call, “what’s going on out here?”, they knew they were doomed.

“Um,” Nerris awkwardly stumbled over, “greetings elder one! Nikki and I were just-”

“Embarking on your quest?” He took the words right from her mouth.

“Y...Yes,” she said sheepishly.

The man rolled his eyes and shook his head, smiling as he hugged his daughter close. She beamed in surprise and hugged his waist.

“You’re up past your bed time. Come in now,” he said softly, releasing her and walking back into the house.

Nikki bounced up next to her companion and smiled, “that was fun!”

“It was! And we’ll have an even greater quest tomor-”

Nerris froze, as Nikki planted a kiss on her cheek. It was brief- lasting only a few seconds, but Nikki felt her heart pound through it all, even when she skipped inside after the recipient of the kiss’s father.

Maybe Nikki realized she liked Nerris when they played pretend. Or when Nerris encouraged her silly antics because it made her mother laugh.

Or maybe, she found out that she liked Nerris when she realized that she could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GJRHRHGHFHD??? THE NEW EPISODE GOT ME SO HYPED THAT I HAD TO CONTINUE THE STORY.... JASPER IS MY GARBAGE BOY AND I WOULD DIE FOR HIM
> 
> also space kid!!!!! id fuckin DIE for space kid!!!!!!!!!
> 
> oh YEAH and. if you couldnt tell. im a dumbass, and i have never played DND. please feel free to school me if ive made nerris out of character, and ill do my best to fix it.


	8. A Much Fainter Rainbow After The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> after a very unexpected visit, max talks to david and jasper about life.
> 
> ( there's a brief mention of child abuse towards the end, so you don't have to read it if you dont want to! )

The rain pounded against the window as it poured outside, attacking any passersbys who were brave enough to walk in the wet weather. Max and his friends, however, were safe from the onslaught of wetness, having taken refuge within his home for the afternoon.

The trio was curled up under a big blanket on the couch, watching a movie on the television. More or less commentating over the whole movie per se, making snarky offhand comments to make each other laugh. All in all, it was a pretty good day so far.

Until David came home.

Usually he'd rush through the door as fast as he could and scoop the nearest person into a big hug, asking them tons of questions about their day and immediately starting on lunch or dinner. He was always a happy ball of sunshine; the tallest petunia in the garden; the last and best stick of gum in the pack. 

So when David silently walked through the door, not even making eye contact with anybody, that's when Max knew something was wrong. It was the worst mood he'd seen David in since the campfire incident.

“Stay here,” Max said to his friends, who shrugged (albeit somewhat concerned), and went back to their movie. He snaked out of the blanket and into the kitchen, where Jasper was cleaning.

“Jasper?” His voice came out soft- sheepish, almost. He hated it. He was almost sure he hadn't caught his parent’s attention until the belated reply came.

“What's shakin’, homeslice?” It was so simple, irritatingly comforting, something Max had yet to grow used to in his two weeks of living with the family so far.

“Something's wrong with David,” he admitted, then quickly added, “and it was nothing I did this time either!”

Jasper raised an eyebrow, suspicious of the boy’s intentions. That was when Max decided to further elaborate on the situation.

“You know how he always comes in the house all happy?”

“Mhm?”

“He just came in today without saying anything. He went up to his goddamn room without even looking at me!”

His parent seemed both concerned and deep in thought as he processed the information. A long beat passed before his reply came.

“I’ll go talk to him,” Max wouldn't admit the wave of relief that passed through him at that, “you just go back to your movie, alright little dude?”

“Sure,” Max replied simply, and he stalked out of the kitchen and back into the living room. When he got back, the credits of the movie had already begun rolling.

“Damn, I missed the ending?” Max said, more as a statement than a question.

“The ending rocked! The guys saved the girl from the lagoon monster and shot him,” Nikki jumped up and started wildly flailing around, making finger pistols, “BANG BANG! And then, the monster sunk into the lagoon and died!”

“Sounds cool,” Max feigned interest as he sunk down in between his friends.

“It wasn't very scientifically accurate,” Neil said boredly, “and the effects were terrible.”

“The movie was made in 19-fucking-54,” Max reminded him, “the entire thing was in black and white. What the hell did you expect?”

“Yeah Neil,” Nikki agreed, “you can't watch a movie called ‘Creature From the Black Lagoon’ and expect it to be scientific stuff.”

Neil didn't reply, partially because he had just gotten shown up by the other two members of the trio. Instead, he opted to change the subject.

“What did you do last weekend, Max?”

Max shrugged casually, “Space Kid and I went-”

“You hung out with Space Kid?” Nikki asked.

“You interrupt people?” Max shot back. She fell silent and he continued, “yeah, I hung out with Space Kid. He invited me over to his house and then he came over for dinner. Jasper drove us into town Sunday and we hung out there.”

“That sounds cool,” the green-haired girl said after a pause.

“Yeah,” the boy shrugged, “he's cool when he wants to be.”

A silence fell upon the gang as they watched the static on the television. After a while, Max leaned his head on Neil’s shoulder. Neil squeezed his hand softly like he normally did. Nikki eventually joined, throwing the blanket back over the three of their small bodies and leaning her head on Neil’s other shoulder. They stayed like that in silence until a loud knock on the door broke the comforting moment.

Max groaned, and stood up as another knock came, “keep your fucking pants on, I’m coming.”

He heard Nikki snort and Max snapped his head back to look at her, “not like that.”

He opened the door and standing there was a woman he'd never seen before. She had long black hair, flattened and straightened, with brown eyes. She smelled of smoke, which was a telltale sign for Max to not trust her.

“Is David here?” She asked, her voice low and croaky.

“Don't know any Davids,” Max lied immediately.

“Cut the crap, brat,” she hissed out, “I know he lives here.”

Max heard shuffling from behind him, which signified his friends standing up. 

“I don't know any Davids.”

She looked ready to murder him. Max felt his heart pound. He quickly tried to shut the door, but the woman shoved her foot in the doorway so he couldn't close it.

“Let me see David,” she spat. Max could tell now that she had been drinking.

“I told you! I don't know anybody named David! Go away!”

“I’ll murder you, you little fucking lying shit!” She reached for him and Max shut his eyes tight.

Her grip never came.

Max slightly opened one eye to find Jasper standing there, a sharp grasp on her wrist. He remembered, yet again, that one of Jasper’s moms was a Taek Won Do teacher- she must have taught him a few moves here and there. Clearly enough for self-defense and the defense of others.

“Max, kids,” his voice was dead serious, not even turning to face them, “go find David.”

“Jasper-”

“Go find David,” the command was repeated louder, and Max stumbled back to his friends, who quickly helped to usher him upstairs.

They quickly tracked down the man, sitting on his bed. He perked slightly when he saw them, but his features took on a concerned kind of look when he noticed how startled they were.

“Kids? What's wrong?” He asked.

“Some drunk lady at the door kept asking for you,” Max explained shakily, “I kept telling her I didn't know you but she wouldn't go away.”

Silence.

“Where's Jasper?”

“He told us to go upstairs,” Neil answered pointedly.

“Yeah, he told us to find you,” Nikki finished.

David stood up and pushed past the children. He paused, then shut the door with them in the room.

“Don't come out until I come get you,” his voice was the kind of serious it had been when David confronted Max about the Order of the Sparrows, if not more serious.

So they waited.

And waited.

And they listened to the fighting and the yelling downstairs. Nikki’s usual flair was gone and she had been reduced to sitting close to Neil in silence. The latter didn't seem to be any better. He was curled up, ears plugged up by his fingers, eyes squeezed shut. Max just sat, shaking. Curled close to Nikki because Neil was too freaked out to be touched at that very moment.

He didn't know who the woman at the door was, but he hated her.

He hated her a lot.

It had to have been more than an hour until David came back upstairs, opening the door. His lost smile was still diminished. Jasper appeared next to him.

“You can come out now,” his voice was soft, “she's gone.”

“Neil, Nikki,” Jasper spoke their names in a similarly soft tone as they stood up, “I’ll walk you home. Get your shoes on, please.”

The two exchanged looks and then shared a look with Max, who just sent them a mutual confused look back.

He didn't follow them downstairs to say goodbye, but instead stood in the room, staring his remaining father down. The tension was high.

“David,” Max began, “who the fuck was that?”

Another silence fell upon the room, the house echoing the front door closing as Jasper and Neil and Nikki made their way next door.

“That,” David paused again and sat down on the bed, “was my mother.”

Max was sure his jaw would have dropped if he didn't compose himself first. He resorted instead to widening his eyes and staring.

“That… that was your mom?”

“Yes, it was,” Max was about to ask for an explanation but it appeared that David had read his mind, continuing before he could ask, “I went down to the convenience store to buy something to make for dinner. She was just… there, smoking outside. I thought she wouldn't recognize me because it had been so long but-”

David choked up. Max’s stomach twisted at the sight of him forcing himself to continue.

“We talked for a while and she acted like nothing had happened between us- between our family. And I guess she followed me home.”

Silence.

“I’m- sorry, Max,” he quickly apologized, “I’m supposed to keep you safe, I promised I would, but I was irresponsible-”

“Shut up,” Max cut him off. Upon realizing that it was… probably not the best course of action, he continued with, “you didn't really put me in danger, I guess. Jasper kind of got there before anything escalated.”

David was looking at him through posed curious eyes. Max rubbed the back of his head, down by his neck and then went to sit down next to him. God, if only Jasper were here.

“Anyways it's not really your fault that your mom is a batshit crazy stalking drunk fuck,” he assured, “so don't blame yourself, you idiot.”

David’s smile came out from hiding, perking just ever so slightly on his lips as Max talked to him. Max wasn't entirely sure how to comfort people, or really give compliments or anything, but he was relieved that it seemed to lighten David's mood at least a little.

“Thanks, Max,” he said warmly.

“Yeah yeah, whatever,” he rolled his eyes, refusing to be anymore sentimental than he had to be.

The two sat in silence until they heard the front door open.

“Jasper's back,” Max stated the obvious. The duo got up and headed down the stairs.

“Hey there, cool cats,” Jasper greeted as he kicked off his shoes, “how's it hanging?”

“Better than we started out with,” David said, as he placed a careful hand on his son’s back.

Max grunted but didn't refuse the affection. David was annoying, definitely annoying, but something in his gut told him that tonight, just tonight, this was okay.

“Should I get started on dinner?” Jasper asked, as he walked from the doorway.

“Now hold on there, Jasper,” David gently put a hand on his shoulder, “just because I've been down doesn't mean I’m out. I can do it-”

“No,” Max and Jasper said in unison.

“We can handle it, David,” Max stated flatly, and his father nodded in agreement, “just lay down and relax or some shit.”

“Take a chill pill, Davey, Maxy and I have got this night in the bag,” Jasper assured.

“Gosh,” David rubbed the back of his head, looking on guiltily, “are you sure? I don't mind whipping something up for us.”

“We've got it, no sweat.”

“Alright…” David trailed off, still unsure.

Jasper kissed David. Max fake-gagged.

“Really, we've got it.”

“Well….. okay,” he finally gave in, “but if you need my help, you know where to find me!”

Max and Jasper headed into the kitchen to get started on dinner.

“Do we actually know what we're doing?” Max asked curiously.

“Not at all,” Jasper replied coolly as he raided the pantry.

“Okay,” Max sighed, “what does David like? Let's make something that he likes.”

“He likes everything,” Jasper answered. Max groaned.

“We could ditch dinner and have dessert instead?”

“He'd strip me of my cooking dinner privileges.”

“He already did that.”

“Listen.”

Max snorted as they continued to look through the pantry.

“Nothing in particular that'd cheer him up,” Jasper said, turning back to look at his son.

“We could get pizza,” Max suggested, “everyone likes pizza.”

“Truth to that,” Jasper agreed, “I’ll order it.”

The house was extremely calm despite the incident that happened. It usually had this vibe, but tonight it was just… unusual. Max couldn't help but find it weird.

“Hey Jasper?” The boy asked after he'd gotten off the phone with the pizza place.

“What's up?” The reply was short and sweet, like usual.

Max paused, then asked, “do you know David’s parents well?”

The man grew somewhat tense. A moment of awkward silence passed until he knelt down and put a hand on Max’s shoulder. It was more David’s forte to go down to their son’s height when addressing him.

“Max,” he began gently, “Davey’s parents were…. a lot like yours. They were cruel people who hurt him badly. They sent him off to summer camp because they didn’t want to deal with him. And when he came home, it was always worse and worse.”

“What the fuck?” Max hissed, his voice hushed to a low, angry whisper so David didn’t hear the conversation, “why didn’t anyone do anything about it? Where the hell where you?”

“We lived about an hour away,” the answer came quickly, “we didn’t exactly… know it was happening until David was seventeen.”

“Seventeen?” Max echoed unbelievingly.

Jasper averted his gaze, “it’s- it was my fault. He said he didn’t wanna risk being moved somewhere else away from me, and he didn’t want to become my foster brother, because he liked me. He didn’t have any other known relatives- ones that were any better, at least. His parents kicked him out about a week before his birthday, so he crashed with us until he turned eighteen and then he went out and got a job and eventually got us an apartment. And we’ve kinda been dating ever since.”

“And his parents…?”

“This is the first time we’ve heard from either of them in years,” he answered, “we thought they’d left the state, or even the country.”

Max didn’t know how to respond. He furrowed his eyebrows in concern and looked at his father’s guilty eyes.

“I just wish,” Jasper paused, “I just wish he would have said something when we were kids.”

“But you probably wouldn’t have started dating him, would you have?”

“...No,” Jasper huffed out, “but it would have put my mind at ease knowing that he was somewhere much safer.”

“But isn’t he happy with the way things are now?” Max inquired, and when Jasper searched his face but couldn’t find an answer, he continued, “I know David. He does dumb shit a lot, but it’s because he thinks that’s how everybody will be the happiest, or some shit like that. I guess this is his perfect life, and I’m pretty sure he’d want you to think the same way about it that he does.”

Jasper smiled sadly, and averted his gaze to the ground, “when did you get to be so smart, Max…”

“Do not look too deeply into that. I hate life, and I hate everything in life,” he immediately countered, pointing an accusing finger that slowly descended as his stern features softened, “but… I guess this is all a lot fucking nicer than I could have asked for.”

Jasper chuckled and stood, patting Max’s hair. He quickly reached to swat the hand away.

“Love you too, Max.”

The pizza came soon after. As the family of three sat at the table, Max silently reminisced the night of Parent’s Day again. He’d admit it over his dead body, but calm nights like this were nice… especially when he got to spend it with David and Jasper.

David was back to his cheerful old self, laughing at Max and Jasper’s banter and talking all about his day teaching sixth graders. He asked Max a ton of annoying questions about Neil and Nikki and the rest of the gang. Max just answered them all to keep David happy.

The house soon settled however, and Max was sent off to bed for the night. He laid awake, staring up at the ceiling, thinking about the events that had taken place since that fateful afternoon. So much had already happened to him, and since tomorrow was a brand new day, he’d have even more new adventures. And with his friends Nikki and Neil by his side, he was sure things would be interesting.

“Max,” David peeked into the room, “hey. Goodnight, buddy.”

“Night, asshat,” Max replied. When David started walking away he spoke up again, “hey David?”

“Yes, Max?” He turned back to see his son in the dark room.

“Sleep well.”

David smiled warmly.

“Okay, Max.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *poses on your table* hello there.
> 
> we havent been seeing very much of david at all in comparison to jasper i noticed, so i quickly whipped this up to fix that!
> 
> theres not much to say this time except.. uhh, david's parents suck, burn the government


	9. Cause And Affect(ion)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> max may have a bit more in common with nurf than he originally thinks.
> 
> (there's... literally just a mention of nurf's mom lighting someone on fire in the past, but you don't have to read it if you don't want to!)

“Whose idea was it to schedule my next appointment on a fucking Saturday at ten A.M.?” Max wondered aloud as David started up the car, the noise only combatted by Jasper getting into the passenger’s seat in the car.

“It was all they had open, ya goofball,” Jasper answered lightheartedly. Max could tell he still hadn't woken up fully either. Jasper was the stay-at-home parent, so he was used to waking up much later.

David, however, was wide awake, ready and raring to go, barely giving Max and Jasper time to register needing to buckle in before he was on the road.

“Okay, gang!” His voice was the sunshine. Bright and happy, but Max couldn't stand it, “how about some tunes to start out our morning?”

“Sure,” Jasper turned on the radio and clicked the CD button. Smash Mouth’s All Star immediately began playing.

“Jasper,” Max said exasperatedly, watching as he lost it and laughed.

Eventually, after a brief and (barely) heated discussion, one of those greatest hits of the year CDs was inserted into the CD slot and Hey, Soul Sister began playing.

David and Jasper sang along. David's singing voice was always somewhat comforting- when he wasn't singing that damn camp song that is. Jasper’s voice was somewhat quieter, but definitely much nicer in quality. Max remembered music class in elementary school, how the only nice teacher he ever had, Mrs. Chimingly, had complimented his singing voice and called it the best she had heard in all her classes. The other kids were jealous, but Max didn't care.

Mrs. Chimingly looked a lot like Nerris’s mom. When she showed up on Parent’s Day, Max had almost thought it was her. He never really knew what became of her. After he entered fourth grade, she transferred out. Lots of rumors surfaced- she had died, she was pregnant with twins, etc. Max was saddened, genuinely, but ultimately decided he didn't care, and Mrs. Chimingly went quietly into the night that was the back of his mind.

White, filmy clouds sailed slowly through the cold morning sky, following the journey of the three in their car. Max just watched them. In a way, they were like him, and everyone he knew- different shapes and sizes, different personalities, all headed in the same direction but to different goals. And also that they'd all disappear one day and he'd never see them again, but that was too edgy, even for him.

Beautiful Girls by Sean Kingston came on and Max heard David let out a happy sigh as he sang along. He was pretty young when this song came out. He had to have been about 3 years old. Damn, it had already been ten years. Max wondered for a moment, then came to the conclusion that the CD had belonged to David and he was a 00’s lover, as Jasper was to the 90’s. Neither of them ever really seemed to grow out of their childish ways too much.

After a while, Jasper struck up a conversation with David about his job. He said that it was “going just so wonderfully fantastic!” and that rumor mill had started within the staff that the middle school’s counselor was moving up to high school and being replaced by a new person.

“Mr. Hensy’s leaving?” Max asked curiously, chiming into the conversation that he had been eavesdropping.

“It's only a rumor,” David replied, looking at Max through the front mirror, “but if he does, be sure to give him an extra special goodbye and a thank you for all he's done!”

“I absolutely will not.”

Jasper snorted, and covered his grin with his palm when David glanced over to him with a faintly stern look. Jasper cleared his throat after catching himself.

“Your father’s right, Max,” he agreed, “Mr. Hensy helped you get a really rad therapist in the big city!”

“I don't see why,” Max responded.

“Because he wanted to help you!” David exclaimed in response.

“Because it's his job, and he felt obligated to help me even though he felt nothing for my situation?” The child retorted.

“That's not it at all,” Jasper turned his head back to look at Max, “my mom is a therapist and-”

“The quiet one? Lamb?”

“Lan,” Jasper corrected gently, then continued, “it's not that they don't care. They see more people than just you in a single day- let alone a week. That's a lot of problems to listen to. They don't shoulder them, is all. Of course they care, and they wanna help you out, they just have to deal with it a different way.”

Max cocked an eyebrow, unsure of Jasper’s logic being particularly sound. He opened his mouth to respond, but clamped it shut when the car parked in the front of the building. He just silently got out of the car and started to walk to the glass door when his hand collided with another. He looked up to see who it was, not expecting to recognize the face but taking on a surprised expression when he saw-

“Oh, hey,” Nurf said casually.

“Nurf? What the fuck are you doing here?” Max didn't bother to greet him which seemed to put him off, but he ignored it.

“My mom is taking here for my therapy session, what's your story?”

“Your mom?” Max echoed curiously, “isn't she in prison?”

“She got out,” he shrugged simply, pupils averting to the woman getting out of her car behind him.

She actually looked presentable this time around; as opposed to her bright orange jumpsuit, she had on a white t-shirt with the words “I bake because punching people is frowned upon” printed on the front, red belt tied around her waist to hold up a pair of blue bell bottoms, black heeled boots clicking against the concrete as she walked off from the car. Her usual mane of orange hair was styled into a ponytail, falling over her shoulder carefully.

“Gaylord, sweetie, is this little shit holding you up?” Good to know her mouth was as filthy as ever. Her gaze bored into Max’s skull.

“Mom,” the larger child squeezed her hand as he calmly reminded her, “you're being insensitive again.”

“Sorry,” she sighed, rubbing her temples, “I just forget sometimes.”

“This is my friend from school, Max,” it felt so weird to be addressed as someone's friend, especially by Nurf. Were they friends? He considered them acquaintances with the same sense of humor.

She sized Max up, clearly not impressed, but nonetheless willing to support her son, “hi.”

“Hey,” and that was all that Max needed to hear.

David and Jasper came up behind their son. It took David a moment to recognize her, but when he figured out Nurf was with his mom, he beamed brightly.

“Hello there, Miss Nurfington! It's so great to see you again,” he put his hands on his child’s shoulders delicately, before continuing, “I hope Max didn't cause you two any trouble.”

“Not at all David,” Nurf held up a hand as he responded, before his mother could open his mouth, “I was just introducing my mom to him.”

She grumbled softly. Jasper seemed offput, choosing to hide behind David. The redhead, however, wasn't fazed in the slightest.

“Well, that's great! It's always nice to make new friends, huh Max?”

An awkward silence swept over the group.

“How about we get to walking up to the office now, huh Davey?” Jasper tugged on his sleeve nervously.

David didn't seem to understand, and said “we should all walk up together! That would be great, wouldn't it?”

Max pinched the bridge of his nose, “you're a moron.”

The five of them nonetheless pressed on into the building and into the elevator. David was standing with his hands on his hips and a wide grin on his lips as Jasper pushed the buttons.

When he finished, he sandwiched in between his partner and Nurf, holding Davey’s arm. David lit up at the touch and leaned over to kiss Jasper’s cheek.

Max fake-gagged, “can you guys be gay somewhere else?”

Nurf’s mom raised an eyebrow. Max could tell she was sizing the three of them up, but this time it was curiously.

“Hey, bub,” she said pointedly to Jasper, who jumped.

“Uh, yes ma’am?” His usual spark was missing, replaced with anxiety.

She pointed to Max, “is he your son?”

“Uh,” Jasper sputtered.

“Why, yes he is!” David announced proudly, “we adopted Max not too long ago!”

“So you're gay?” She asked as the elevator doors opened. Jasper dashed out.

A blush painted the man’s cheeks, and he rubbed the back of his head, averting his gaze downwards, “we are.”

She hummed as they stepped out of the closed space. Max walked next to David, hands in his pockets as the two adults talked.

“So you don't have a problem with my son?”

David tilted his head, the grin staying plastered on his face, “why would I? Nurf is wonderful. The way he identifies doesn't change how I should think about him. What matters is that he's a good person on the inside.”

She actually smiled, and put an arm around Nurf, certainly pleased by David’s answer. Nurf smiled in turn- it was more a smug grin than anything, but it was warm and genuine. Max just sighed.

In the waiting room, David sat next to Nurf’s mom. She asked him tons of questions about the LGBT community- specifically how she could properly be an ally, much to Jasper's apparent surprise, as he had originally perceived her to be homophobic- while Nurf and Max sat next to each other.

“So,” Max began, “I gotta ask… why'd your mom go to prison?”

“She lit someone on fire,” Nurf said casually, ignoring Max’s jaw dropping as he continued, “he was a real shitass dickface.”

“Holy fucking shit,” Max gazed over to the woman in question, “that's fucking insane! Why'd she do it?”

Nurf paused and looked away, then turned back, “if you tell anybody, I’ll pound your face, then rearrange your face… then pound it again.”

“Okay okay,” Max held his hands up defensively. Dark deep secrets were secrets to be kept…. that, and he honestly didn't wanna risk getting the hell beaten out of him by Nurf and his mom.

“He was being homophobic,” Nurf admitted, “to me and my boyfriend.”

His face turned almost nervous, as if he expected Max to judge him. A moment went by, and he only furrowed his eyebrows.

“That's shitty,” he said flatly, “you had a boyfriend?”

“His name was Chris. We'd been dating for about.. seven months at the time.”

“Did you break up?”

“He broke up with me,” the bully clarified, “after my mom lit the guy on fire he thought I was bad and he left me.”

“Are you serious?” Nurf seemed surprised at Max’s response, “what a shitdick! Did you beat him up?”

“No,” he replied, then looked wistfully at the wall, “sometimes the things that hurt the most are the things people can say and think about you. Even if I did beat him up, which… is not to say I didn't consider it, his pain wouldn't have been anywhere near as bad as mine.”

Max couldn't respond. He often found this to be a reoccurring thing for him. Everybody around him was so wise and smart, something he looked past the first time around. He gazed over to the same wall Nurf was looking to.

“What about you?” His companion asked suddenly.

“Huh?” Max looked over at him. It took him a second to process what he meant before he turned red.

“I don't love anything,” he said, “and I don't like anyone either.”

“What about the science nerd?”

Max turned redder.

“What did Nikki tell you?” He demanded, voice hushed.

“Don't be so hostile,” he held his hands up defensively, “she just said that you guys are together a lot.”

“We’re just friends,” he wasn't sure if that statement disappointed him or not.

“Oh.”

Max sunk into his seat, hands in his pockets.

“Either way, I’m pretty sure he's gay,” Max snorted at that.

“I think we all know that, don't we?”

Nurf snorted and the two briefly grinned at each other.

It was cut short by Max’s name being called. Madeline was here.

“Gotta go,” Max said simply, getting onto his feet, “see you in Health.”

“I’m holding you up to that,” his friend replied flatly. Max disappeared down the hall.

That evening, he was sitting at his desk, trying to focus on his math homework. Math was his worst subject- not to mention it was honestly just really fucking boring. The more he tried to focus on the task, the more he thought about what Nurf had said today.

Did he really like Neil that way?

Max never had any real friends until Neil and Nikki. He had just assumed that the physical affection was normal friend stuff, nothing more. The handholding and the sitting next to each other on the bus every day, the feeling of joy he'd get in the pit of his stomach whenever Neil was around, and so forth.

He realized he didn't know what it was like to have a crush on somebody at all. Which, unfortunately, meant that he needed to get an outside opinion. Even worse, there were only two people he knew that were in a relationship that could answer it for him.

Jasper and David.

He considered briefly just trying to block it out and pretend that it wasn't there; that it wasn't a problem, like he did with most of his problems, but a feeling in his stomach told him he wasn't going to get to do that any time soon.

Annoyed, he headed downstairs. David was sitting at the table grading papers, and Jasper was finishing the dishes. He sat down at the table.

“Hey there, Max!” David greeted him cheerfully.

“Hey there, little dude,” Jasper paused in washing the dishes to smile at him before quickly going back.

“How do you know if you like someone and if they like you back?” Max asked immediately, desperate to get this over with.

His parents both froze, their eyes meeting each other’s, and then meeting their son’s.

“What made you bring up this… particular topic, Max?” David asked.

“Answer the question David,” Max insisted.

“Well,” David scratched his head as he looked for an answer, “everyone is different Max- we all act differently when we're attracted to a person. Usually you know you like someone when you get this happy feeling in your chest and you want to spend your time with that person.”

“What about when they hold your hand and cuddle with you and sappy shit like that?”

“This isn't about Neil, is it?” Jasper chimed in with a knowing smirk.

“Yes- I mean no- shut up Jasper!” He pointed a finger at his dad, who just chuckled.

“I’d say that kind of stuff means they like you,” Jasper answered the previously asked question, winking.

Max was awestruck.

“But why me?” He wondered aloud, “I’m the fucking worst.”

“That's not true,” David said, “there's a lot of great things about you Max!”

“Like what? Name three things.”

“Well,” David thought for a moment, and his face lit up before he answered, “you’re very resilient!”

“You don't take shit from anyone,” Jasper added, “nobody, period. Others look up to people like that, y’know.”

“You're also very smart.”

“I’m flunking all my classes, David,” Max shot back pointedly.

“I think he means in the street smart kind of way, my bromide,” Jasper explained, and David nodded.

“Okay, well,” he paused, “you can't think of anything else I bet.”

“Max, if we could name off every good thing about you, we'd be up until the morning,” the redhead said.

“You'd be up ten minutes later at most,” the child said.

“We go to bed at ten, and it's seven twenty right now. That still leaves us about…. a little under three hours, plus the ten minutes,” Jasper cupped his chin, eyebrows furrowing in thought, “that'd be about two hours and fifty minutes approximately.”

Max grunted inaudibly. He went silent after Jasper’s expert reply. He couldn't think of a witty comeback this time.

“But anyways,” Jasper started back up after a beat, and Max looked at his father, “it's your choice if you wanna try to find out if Neil actually likes you. I’m pretty sure he does.”

“Right,” he said simply, getting up from the table, “thanks.”

“No problem, homeslice.”

“Any time Max!”

A million things were swimming around in his mind as he ascended the staircase. He asked himself again- did he really like Neil?

Max closed his door behind him and pushed his math assignment out of the way on the desk. He took out a blank sheet of scratch paper and began scribbling on it.

_Do I get happy when Neil is around?_  
_Do I want to spend time with Neil?_  
_Do I like being with him?_  
_Do I want to be with him?_  


He looked over the questions thoughtfully and after careful consideration, drew a check next to the first line. Max chewed the end of his pencil as he pondered the next one, which was checked off as well. The third question immediately gained its check mark, but then he froze completely at the fourth and final question.

Did he want to be with Neil?

He thought about it. There was the possible chance of him being rejected. Nurf’s words echoed in his head- 

_“Sometimes the things that hurt the most are the things people can say and think about you.”_

Max wasn't the one to be hurt very easily- or at all, really- but the thought of Neil’s rejection stung. 

Then he thought about the way that Neil interacted with him- how they'd hold hands, and sit together on the bus, how they'd cuddle and stay out past curfew at the park together long after Nikki would go home…

Max’s heart hurt with affection.

“Fuck,” he hissed, slamming his pencil down on the desk. He rested his face on the paper. This was Nurf’s fault. He wouldn't even be thinking about this if he hadn't brought it up at all.

Max didn't know to answer the question. He was clueless, mind drawing a blank. He was only sure of one single thing in that moment - he definitely liked Neil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *makes motorboat noises with my mouth*
> 
> idk what to put here. ily guys


	10. Instead Of Treated, We Get Tricked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> max had tried to forget about him, but he came back, in the worst way possible.
> 
> (there's a mention of blood and violence towards the end, so you don't have to read that if you don't want to!)

Max grumbled as the bell rang, crumpling up the letter he was writing to Neil and shoving it into his pocket. It was his fifth attempt at trying to write it today. Each time came out shittier and shittier it seemed. Confessions of love seemed so much easier in the movies- write a letter, slip it into the other person’s locker, get together after school. It seemed simple enough, but Max just couldn't find the words that swirled around in his brain to put on paper.

He headed to lunch. Preston had inquired about what he had been writing as they walked to lunch. Nerris and Harrison were there as well, dispersed from the conversation in the midst of their own argument. Max was ready for them to stop already. Harrison had performed a magic trick that put a small bag of marbles into his jacket pocket, and he honestly was tired of holding onto it at the moment.

“Tell. Me. Everything,” Preston exclaimed, “was it a poem? A song? A script for a play?”

“No,” Max replied simply, although he had definitely considered writing Neil a poem. It ended horribly and the result was a crumpled mess in his garbage can at home.

“Hmm,” the theatre boy tapped his chin, eyes squinted, “was it a love letter?”

Max fell silent. The two magician children turned their focus to their other companions.

“...Fuck off, Preston,” he mumbled embarrassedly.

“I was right!” He exclaimed, then pressed as they entered the lunch room, “who's the addressee? Tell me now!”

“It's Neil,” Nerris said without a single shred of doubt in her voice.

Max turned red, “shut up both of you!”

They all sat down at one of the lunch tables. Max dug through his backpack to grab his lunch. He ignored Preston’s nonstop inquiries as to confirm whether or not the person he was writing to was Neil, and bit into his sandwich. Eventually the taller boy grew tired of trying to get an answer and stopped, but Max was certain it was only for the time being. He’d start up again the next day, and that was a fact.

After a bit, Ered joined them, school cafeteria lunch tray in her hands. She flipped her hair coolly and sat down next to her gym partner (they’d paired up with each other because everyone else in the class was extremely creepy) and put her feet up on the table.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey,” the reply bounced back to her through Max’s lips.

“So like, are you guys coming to the pre-Halloween dance this afternoon?” The blonde asked, losing her short-lived chill demeanor to lean forward, resting her chin on her knuckles, elbows propped against the table.

“I’m gonna go!” Nerris exclaimed. Ered grinned at her and she shrunk into her cape, blushing.

“Some of the kids said they wanna see me perform my magic tricks there,” Harrison said excitedly with his usual gecko smile, ignoring Nerris’s glare.

“Hm,” Preston tapped his chin again, a regular occurrence for him, “yes, I suppose I’ll attend as well!”

“I’m not going,” Max said flatly, “it’s such a stupid idea. What moron thought a pre-Halloween dance would be a good idea?”

“Like, I heard Neil is going too,” Max’s features softened into that of surprised as he craned his head towards Ered.

“Is he really?”

“Yeah, Nikki wanted to go, so her parents said Neil has to watch her so she doesn’t bring the school down,” she elaborated, cracking open the soda she’d gotten from the vending machines by the gym Friday afternoon. Max had made a comment about it being kind of pointless to drink soda right after gym class. She brushed him off, but it looked like she listened, because she had come with the same drink that she had purchased. Probably kept it in her locker for lunch through the weekend. He couldn’t blame her, the school’s milk was kinda shitty.

“An alchemist protecting a warrior…” The little mage girl’s eyes sparkled, “it’s a story for the ages to come!”

“....Yeah, sure, fine, I’ll hang back then,” Max reluctantly agreed, “but I’m gonna mooch a ride off his dad.”

The rest of the gang showed up soon after. The topic of the dance came up yet again. It seemed that everyone had opted into going. Neil didn’t seem too happy about it, but he almost appeared to lighten when Ered told him that Max was going. They subconsciously stared each other down for a minute while the others chittered the lunch period away, Max only catching himself when Neil did first. The brown haired boy quickly shook his head and went back to stabbing at the practically inedible food. Max felt around in his pocket for the note he was writing Neil earlier. He took it out and scanned it over from under the table. It was scribbled, nowhere near complete or any kind of finished for that matter, the wording was awkward, and it just plain didn’t sound right at all.

 _Neil_  
_I kinda suck at this whole feelings thing. I suck at a lot of things in general (if you make a dirty joke about that I will KILL you) but, I guess I sort of like you. More than like. Like a lot of like. It’s weird and kind of gay but_

 _  
_ The note ended there, Max having been cut off by the ringing of the bell. While initially annoyed to shit by the inconvenience, he was glad that the period ended when it did, because Neil would laugh his ass off even more at him if this had been the final draft of the note. He was honestly just glad that it wasn’t as bad as the other ones were.

The lunch period came to a close quickly as it did every day and the gang departed until the 2:30 bell, where the dance would reunite them again for a couple of hours. Max realized how little time he actually spent with those around him that weren’t Neil and Nikki as he walked to gym with Ered. Sure, he had most of his class periods with some of them, but it was class- there wasn’t much you could really do in class, to tell the truth.

 _“_ You siked for the dance, or what?” Ered asked him as they trudged through the grass on the football field.

“I’d rather die,” Max gagged.

“Maybe there’ll be a slow dance,” she nudged him, “you could dance with Neil.”

He squinted, and paused, “....what did Nikki tell you?”

“Don’t try to hide it,” she said, flipping her hair with her head, “she says you two are always holding hands and doing homework together and like… stuff.”

Max huffed, “that doesn’t mean I like him. What’s wrong with two boys holding hands?”

“Nothing,” she replied. Max remembered that Ered’s parents were gay and honestly felt stupid that he’d assume she would laugh at him or something, “I’m just saying that it’s fine to like him. I’m sure he likes you too.”

“...Really?” He raised an eyebrow. Everyone had been telling him that, but he just couldn’t believe it.

“Yeah,” she smirked at him.

Max let it sit for a while - was his crush on Neil really that obvious? Did Neil know, and choose not to say, or was he oblivious? Nikki couldn’t keep her mouth shut, so he was bound to know by now, right? Was that why Neil was staring at him today at lunch? He denied himself the urge to ask Ered all the questions wandering around in his head. She probably wouldn’t know the answers to them anyway.

They tossed the football back and forth as instructed by the coach, and worked on getting the proper throwing angle and stuff. It was boring, but it passed the time and it helped Max get his mind off the lunch incident and all the questions for the while. On their way back into the school to get to the locker rooms, Max saw a few familiar faces grinning at him. He didn’t exactly remember who they were at the moment and, honestly, he didn’t really care to. They were generic white fuckboys, who could all go stick a pine tree up their asses for all he cared.

Science was kind of awkward. Max wasn’t sure how to go about talking to Neil, so he just… tried not to say anything at all. Neil silently worked on his bookwork during the period, so it worked out better than he had planned for originally. It was a somewhat slow class day though, because the trio was usually causing some sort of mayhem in the corner of the room where they sat. The teacher had even come over to see if they were feeling okay.

Max packed his books into his locker after the bell had rung and slung his bag over his shoulder. He started heading to the gym where the dance would be held. As he was walking down the hall, he noticed it had become eerily.. Empty. There was only two other people in the hall as far as he could see. Was this what it was like to be in school after it ended? It felt a touch too creepy, but Max pushed on anyways, insisting it was his imagination.

He headed down the stairs and into the cafeteria, intending to pass through to get to the gym, but something stopped him. He saw a familiar small figure in the courtyard through the doors- Space Kid. He seemed to be talking to a group of familiar looking older kids, who were showing him a crumpled piece of paper and-

Oh.

Oh, fuck.

Max rushed to the door without thinking and slammed it open, rushing out to his friend’s side. An evil smirk perked onto the leader of the eighth grade group’s face, and he tilted his head to the side, arms folding over his chest triumphantly, the note held tightly at the tip of the paper between his index finger and thumb.

“Hey guys, look, it’s the fag!” His second-in-command pointed to Max who scowled in response, turning back to view the infamous leader.

“What the fuck do you want, Bobby?” He demanded.

“What, me? It’s not about what I want,” he paused, and waved the paper in front of Max’s face, “it’s about what you want. We’re telling your little crush about this.”

Max snorted, a smirk taking place of the venomous frown as he pointed back to Space Kid with his thumb, “what now? You think I’m crushing on this idiot?”

“Isn’t he Neil?” One of the cronies in the back of the pack inquired, and Max recognized him as the know-it-all douchebag from his second and fifth periods. He must have been the one who snagged the note from his jacket while it was in the locker room. Fucking idiot coach not giving him a locker, god damn it.

“You idiot!” Bobby hissed at him, and the boy recoiled, “you got the wrong Neil!”

He let out a string of curses from under his breath and then he snapped his gaze back to face Max.

“Max, what’s going on?” Space Kid asked.

“I’ve had a run-in with these douchebags before,” he explained quickly, “I got their leader kicked off the basketball team and now they’re pissed as hell about it.”

The leader ran a hand through his curly brownish-red hair and closed in on the two sixth graders, “that’s right. And since plan A didn’t work, there’s always plan B.”

“What’s plan B?” The space boy asked.

“We’re gonna beat the shit out of both of you.”

“Hey,” Max turned his gaze the same direction as his arm was- held out in front of his companion in an almost protective manner.

“Yeah, Max?” Their eyes met for a moment.

“Fucking run.”

That was all that needed to be said before the two dashed off to the baseball field (technically the football and baseball field were the same but a big chainlink fence separated the two, and a track was built around the football field for the cross country team). The eighth grade boys quickly followed, yelling at them. It was a good thing that Max and Space Kid were rather small in terms of both height and weight. They were rather quick on their feet, even so while against the other boys.

“Where do we go now?!” The smaller boy shouted.

“We gotta make a sharp as hell U-turn up ahead and get the hell into the fucking school!” Max exclaimed. They both sped up and did as Max said, just barely being able to stay out of the grip of one of Bobby’s lackeys.

They made it back onto the basketball court on the concrete, closing in on the doors.

“Maaaaax, they’re catching up!”

Max swore under his breath. He reached into his pocket and, to his surprise, pulled out the forgotten marbles from Harrison’s fourth period magic trick. Quickly untying the small string from the bag, he tossed it back, the marbles spilling and scattering everywhere behind them. The sounds of Bobby screaming angrily and his cronies tripping were heard.

“Hell yes!” They reached the door. Max’s stomach dropped when they wouldn’t budge. It had been locked from the inside.

“The doors to the ELA hall,” Max quickly shrieked, “get to the ELA hall now!”

They turned heel as the boys recovered and rushed down into the courtyard. The doors hadn’t been locked because the janitor hadn’t been through the hall yet. Max swung the doors open and the two rushed inside. They ran as fast as their tired legs would allow, bolting down the hall and making a sharp right, making a beeline for the gym. They passed through the cafeteria.

“There it is!” Space Kid shrieked victoriously. The gym doors were in sight, they were almost there when-

“Fuck!” Max yelled, as he tripped, landing directly on his face on the hard floor. The janitor had forgot to put out a wet floor sign.

“Max, get up!” His companion exclaimed, grabbing him up by the arm.

Max was recovering when Space Kid continued running, and started to follow when he suddenly felt a tight grip on his hood.

“Caught you.”

“MAX!” The space lover yelled, turning and holding a hand out, as if he reached out he’d be able to grab him. When he saw the other boys starting to close in on him, he shrieked and retreated into the gym.

Max felt Bobby breathing down his neck as he spoke, “you’ve been causing me a lot of trouble these past two weeks, you piece of shit. But we’ll fix that, won’t we boys?”

“Let me go, you fucking dick,” the boy hissed, flailing his arms. The laugh he received in response was chilling. He held Max under his arm and walked out the door Max had departed out of what seemed like so long ago.

The lot ventured out onto the field and Bobby just about slammed his victim onto the ground. He loomed over him, cracking his knuckles. He tossed his head in a ‘come on’ motion and his friends circled around. Then there was pain. A lot of fucking pain.

Max curled up and shut his eyes, trying to block out the pain and the yelling and the laughter. He didn’t scream. Screaming made it worse. Screaming and crying for help was frowned upon. He felt blood oozing from his nose and a killer headache. Soon enough his bones began aching and his senses dulled, barely registering when he was picked up by his tormentor.

The last thing he saw was the dumpster on the side of the school, yelling piercing his already ringing ears, before he blacked out, hitting the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> youre welcome!
> 
> *waits for the onslaught of people screaming out of fear of the unknown in the comment section*
> 
> (also if you can guess the title reference and the marble reference ily, thanks)


	11. Instead Of Kisses We Get Kicked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> after space kid and max both disappear, neil starts to suspect something may be wrong.
> 
> (there's a mention of blood towards the middle and a big fight towards the end but there's no explicit mentions of really bad violence, so you don't have to read it if you don't want to!)

Neil sat on one of the seats perched up against the gym wall, watching the other kids having fun. The whole gang had showed up except one- Max. Which was so strange to him, because Harrison told him that he had agreed to come. Maybe he just did it to save his feelings, and ditched last minute? That was irrational, though- if there was anything you needed to know about that boy, it was that he never spared people’s feelings, no matter what. Neil’s anxieties kept getting the best of him, no matter how hard he tried to bat them back.

Eventually he gave in to his wants and sent Space Kid to go find Max. He needed to know that Max wasn’t at the school at all; it would hurt, but at least he would know where the two of them stood at that point in time. After about five minutes of no Space Kid, Neil concluded that he, too, had ditched, and he was fighting a losing game at this point in time.

He was more than disappointed to say the least; the gang had all planned this out so well. It was here that he was to confess his feelings to Max, give him the big rose that Nikki had stolen from his father’s garden, and have Ered bribe the DJ to play a slow song. He’d lead Max through the steps and kiss him, and everything would have been peachy keen.

But it wasn’t, because Max wasn’t here, and because Neil knew he would most likely chicken out at the very last minute. What were the odds that he even felt the same way anyways? He probably just thought he was weird and wanted to get away from him. Neil groaned in frustration, slapping his hands over his eyes.

“Hey science dude,” Ered greeted, seating herself in the seat next to him, “this dance is killer, isn’t it?”

Neil looked at her. He tried not to show his anxieties and, honestly, his sadness, but he wasn’t sure that it was working out very well. Nonetheless he tried to carry on the conversation.

“It’s,” he sighed, “it’s alright.”

“What’s got you down in the dumps?” She saw right through him. Shit.

“You guys said Max was supposed to be here,” he replied to her honestly, and she quirked an eyebrow, flipping her hair.

“He should be,” confusion was laced in her tone this time around, “he said he’d get a ride from your dad after the dance was over.”

“I didn’t see him getting on the bus,” Nerris approached, handing Ered a cup of soda, “perhaps he got tied up in his own after-school quest and couldn’t come forth…”

“I guess that’s probably it,” Neil said. The thought wasn’t very comforting though. He could have at least said something in science class.

Suddenly, Space Kid burst in screaming, “HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM! SEND BACKUP, SEND BACKUP! MAJOR MALFUNCTION!”

Ered and Neil shot up, and they rushed over to the extremely panicked small boy. He saw Neil and instantly latched onto the boy’s sweater, shaking him frantically and screaming. For a long while, it was incomprehensible, mostly just the space child flailing around his arms. He was trying to detail some kind of story with his hands, but nothing came out. Finally, he snapped.

“MAX! DANGER! NEEDS HELP!” He fell into a fit of incomprehensible screaming yet again.

“Max is in danger?” Nikki was at Neil’s side at an instant, grabbing the space boy and knocking off his helmet to slap him in the face, “get ahold of yourself now!”

After having the sense slapped back into him, literally, the rest of the ex-campers gathered around to scope out the situation.

“Some big guys were chasing us and trying to hurt us and-” he choked, “and they got Max!”

“Where are they now?” Neil asked as Space Kid plopped his fishbowl helmet back onto his head.

“I….” he poked his fingers together nervously, “I don’t know…. I just ran.”

“You just left him there?” Neil spat angrily, “what the fuck were you thinking?”

“I…. I’m sorry, I-”

“Shut up!” Neil pointed at him, then looked to the rest of the gang, “if you all don’t help me find Max, so help me, I will spraypaint your names on the fucking principal’s house - first and last!”

They all exchanged looks, and mumbled mutual and casual agreements. Neil tapped his arm with his finger hastily.

“Okay, let’s go,” Ered said finally, tossing her head to flip her hair.

“Heroes, let our quest begin!” Nerris exclaimed, leaping out in front of the crew and rushing out the gym doors.

Neil and Nikki were quick to follow her. Ered grabbed her skateboard at the door and rode through the halls. Preston and Harrison held hands as they walked, seeming offput by the dead-silent school. Space Kid marched in front of them, while Nurf remained in the back of the group, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Now, where was our cynical prince captive last seen before being stowed away in the clutches of the evil goblins?” The mage girl looked back to Space Kid.

“I... have no idea what you just said,” he said, with a confident smile.

“Where did you last see Max?” Neil translated simply, impatient with the conversation’s slow pace.

“Oh, uh…” he backtracked a few steps, and Neil mumbled out ‘oh my god’ as he carefully mentally mapped out the situation, “about right here. He tripped on the wet floor and he got caught by the guys.”

“Do you at least remember what they looked like?” Harrison posed a new angle with curiosity, an eyebrow raised. If he hadn’t been so worried for Max, Neil was sure he’d be awestruck at Harrison actually doing something useful for once.

Space Kid thought for a moment, gloved hand pressing against his helmet. His features lit up when the answer came to him.

“The leader guy who grabbed Max had short curly brown hair and black eyes. He was taller than both of us! And uh… kinda muscly,” he described the culprit slowly, “and Max said he’d had a run in with him before.”

“Bobby,” Neil and Nikki spat in unison. They looked at each other. While they had their disagreements almost constantly, they held one mutual agreement- Bobby was the fucking worst, and they hated him.

“Hold up,” Ered chimed in, “like, who’s Bobby?”

“He was on the school basketball team. He got kicked off for beating Max up,” Nikki elaborated, and Neil nodded, “he got suspended for a week but I don’t think that really helped much. He’s out for blood now!”

Neil winced, then turned back to the group, “we have to find Max before something goes seriously fucking wrong.”

“But where could we possibly even think to start looking?” Preston asked.

“Well,” Neil thought, “all the teachers who are at the school are in the gym right now, supervising the dance. So that means the classrooms are out, because the doors are all locked.”

“The bathrooms echo,” Nikki continued, “if they went into the bathrooms I’m pretty sure we’d hear, ‘cause the school is like… empty and stuff. Trust me, I’ve gotten in trouble for trying to yell in there before.”

“The halls are too obvious,” Harrison helped to narrow down the options as he stepped forward, “and I don’t think they’re anywhere in here or the office.”

“If they tried to get out to the football field, they’d have to go through the gym. Which means we would have seen them, so like, that only leaves the other field and the courtyard,” Ered finished.

“Then let’s go out to the field,” Neil wasted no time in pushing past Nerris and rushing to the doors to the outside of the school.

The group trekked past the basketball court, about to flounce by, when Preston suddenly tripped and fell on his back, yelling a dramatic ‘OOF’ as he did so. Harrison jumped and instantly was at his side, checking if he was hurt. Neil raised an eyebrow at the magician boy suddenly being so touchy-feely with the playwriter, but he opted out of saying anything.

“Hey, wait,” Harrison trailed off after helping Preston up, “these are my marbles!”

“Haha, silly Harrison thinks his marbles is basketball!” Nikki said. Neil glanced over at her through narrowed eyes.

“I put these in Max’s pocket for a magic trick in art today,” he explained as he knelt down to brush them all together and scoop them up, “he never gave them back to me.”

“Oh yeah,” Space Kid lit up, “Max threw those to stop Bobby’s cronies while we were being chased! Oh, it was so cool…”

Neil turned heel and started to walk out into the field. The others were soon behind him. Nikki jumped up beside him.

“You think Max is okay?” She asked.

Neil was silent for a moment, before he responded, “I really hope so. If not, then there’s gonna be some hell to pay.”

“Aww, you like Max!” She teased, oddly cheery despite the heavy situation. Neil rolled his eyes.

“We’ve already established this, Nikki,” he shot back. She just giggled.

“Wait up for us, Max! We’re coming to save you!” The green-haired girl announced, pointing a finger in her hair as she pressed forward, rushing out into the grass chanting numerous “hoo, hee, haa” sounds over and over.

However, this excitement was short-lived. Nikki froze in her tracks, silent. Nerris had just caught up with Neil, and the two exchanged worried looks before rushing up to meet their friend ahead. When they did, Neil had almost wished that he hadn’t.

The grass below them was heavily trampled and stained red. The scent in the air smelled of old pennies. Laying there on the ground was a single crumpled piece of paper, stepped on and torn up. Presumably by heavy foot traffic, Neil assumed. He picked it up, hoping for some kind of clue.

_Neil_  
_\------------- s whole feelings thing. I suck at a l ------------ al (if you make a dir ------------ will KILL you) but, I guess I sort of li ------------------. It’s weird and kind of --------------_

  
It was heavily mutilated and there were tears everywhere, the original content printed on the paper nearly illegible. Neil swallowed the lump in his throat.

“They’ve been here,” Nerris said suspiciously, as the rest of the gang approached, “our prince is in another castle for now.”

“Hey, who's that?” Preston pointed off into the distance. They were greeted with someone a few long yards away, staring at them through a set of eyes that Neil couldn't exactly make out at that point.

It looked to be a boy of average height. His skin was dark, the sun poking through the rain clouds causing his gelled back black hair to shine. He turned and ran once he seemed sure that the crew had spotted him.

Nikki jumped in front of the gang and started running, “after him!”

They all rushed off in pursuit of the boy. He was a fast runner, but Nikki was much faster. She was gaining at blinding speed, while the others remained in the back.

“This is so uncool,” Ered said in between breaths, “if I could skateboard on the grass we'd have caught him by now!”

“Be careful,” Neil warned his companions, “he could be leading us into a trap.”

“Then why are we following him?” Harrison asked, running beside the aforementioned tall blonde.

“Because,” Neil snapped, “we might be able to find Max this way. Plus, it's pretty unlikely there's actually a trap. These are middle school basketball players we're talking about here.”

“True.”

They made their way to the side of the school. When the rest of the gang arrived, Nikki was in a fighting stance. The first thing Neil noticed was Max, limp under Bobby’s arm.

“What the hell did you do to him?” Neil shrieked.

Bobby snorted, looking left and right at his companions. The boy who had lead them there, who Neil now recognized as Walter, the boy from his 2nd period history class, was standing at the very end of the row of boys on the right. The gaze he gave Neil wasn't a malicious one, but an apologetic one.

“Hand him over now!” Nikki shrieked.

“Give Max back, this is so uncool!” Ered exclaimed.

“Give him back or I’ll rearrange your face!” Nurf smashed his fist against his palm.

Bobby frowned, unpersuaded by the others. He simply pointed at the opposing side and said, “get them.”

Nikki leapt on one of the boys’ faces and started mauling him. His muffled screams were heard as he stumbled backwards, arms out in a t-pose to balance himself. When he was down, she kicked another one over on the ground and started hitting their faces with her fists.

Ered was on her skateboard in seconds, going at high speed as she collided with one of the boys and knocked him onto the ground. When he tried to get up, Preston grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, shoving him back into Ered, who had gotten off her skateboard. The purple board hit him square in the face and he laid limp on the ground. The two ex-campers high fived.

Nerris and Harrison were surrounded by the three tallest boys. Their backs met and they looked back at each other nervously for a moment, before something seemed to unanimously click, and they smiled.

“Truce?” Harrison positioned his arm and held out his hand so that his gloved palm was available for her to grab.

“Truce!” She echoed, and grabbing his hand. They nodded.

“One, two, three,” they counted together, before letting out their magical fury. Nerris threw her dice at the boys, while Harrison cast his famous spell.

Nothing happened for a moment. Suddenly, two of the boys fell over in pain, while the other began throwing up an influx of colorful clown handkerchief, collapsing to the ground, clutching his pained stomach. The magicians laughed victoriously.

Space Kid rushed around screaming as the boys chased him. One of them grabbed his cape and yanked him up, smiling sinisterly at him. He flailed his arms and delivered weak blows to the stronger boy, but to no avail. He covered his eyes over his helmet.

Suddenly he fell over and landed safely on the ground. Confused, he looked up, but his eyes and smile widened when he saw Nurf standing there, fist planted directly in the boy’s face.

“The only bully here,” he pulled back, delivering a sharp punch to the boy’s stomach, “is me!”

The offender fell over, shrieking in pain. Space Kid jumped up and crawled onto Nurf’s back.

“Alright!” He exclaimed excitedly, pumping his fists into the air. Nurf started running with his fists at either side of his face, punching the other boys in the chest.

Neil backed up, watching his companions go in awe. A grin spread across his face, but quickly died when he found himself backed up against the last one standing, and the leader, Bobby.

“Going somewhere?” His tone was mocking.

Neil whirled around, stepping back a bit, “not at all.”

The taller boy dropped Max onto the ground and held up his fists. Neil swallowed the scared lump in his throat and did the same. The swelling look of pride on Bobby’s face was gone once a fist met his nose- a strong one, too.

“You little shit!” He ran at Neil, who quickly jumped out of the way. Bobby fell short of his tracks and turned back, fist raised high as he attempted to hit the smaller boy.

Neil wasn't sure how he managed to pull it off, but when he opened his tightly shut eyes back up, he had a tight grip on Bobby’s wrist. Okay, he'd seen Jasper do this before. He squeezed as hard as his hand would allow on the bone, causing the eighth grader to yelp in pain and tear back. In his efforts to escape the pain, he tripped over his untied shoelace and fell onto the ground.

“Good fucking riddance,” Neil said with a smile, kicking him in the face.

“Neil! Grab Max and let's go!” Nikki exclaimed, trying to hold down the two boys.

Neil nodded and grabbed Max. He was pretty light, but it still proved to be a challenge for him as he rushed off. When he turned back, his friends were following, coming out of the shade on the side of the building. They rushed out into the front of the school, setting Max down in the grass.

“Max? Can you hear me?” Neil asked softly, shaking him. He quickly retracted his grasp when Max hissed in pain.

“They got him bad,” Space Kid said worriedly, still on Nurf’s shoulders.

“Should we, like, call someone?” Ered asked.

“We might have to,” Neil cursed himself out mentally when his voice came out choked and raspy. He wasn't going to cry, no sir, not him, “Max- Max, it's time to wake up. Please.”

Neil pressed his ear to Max’s chest and searched around to find it. There was still a steady heartbeat. He was beyond relieved, letting out a deep sigh. He scooped Max into his arms and held him gently, pressing his forehead against Max’s. Neil felt the others watching him, but he ignored them.

He couldn't tell how long he sat there for. Eventually the others had opted to sit down as well, everyone waiting in bated silence. Suddenly the injured boy stirred in his arms, causing him to jump.

“Max?” The others looked up as the boy of mention opened his eyes slightly, looking around. His chest was visibly rising and falling now.

“What,” he choked, coughing out blood, “the fuck is going on?”

“You're gonna be okay Max, hang in there,” Neil urged him, through sad and scared eyes.

“What happened?” Neil could tell Max was trying to focus his gaze on him, but was having trouble.

“Bobby happened.”

“Where is he now?”

“We beat him and his friends up,” Nikki said, her voice eerily flat and relaxed, “they won't be coming around here anymore if we're lucky.”

He craned his neck ever so slightly to look at Nikki. Neil noted her red, puffy eyes. She had been crying. He couldn't blame her. Nikki reached out gently, petting Max’s hair.

“Please don't die Max,” she whimpered, “please.”

“I’m not gonna die, Nikki,” he assured her, coughing again, “just need to stay down for a while.”

Tears started running down her face again. Nerris sat next to her and hugged her tightly. She buried her face in Nerris’s shoulder. Neil didn't feel any empathy for Nikki usually, but his heart sank at the display in front of him.

The kids sat there until they saw a familiar car pull up. Out of it came David. He spotted his ex-campers in the front and beamed, marching up to them.

“Well, hey there Neil! Your dad had a meeting today so he…” David trailed off when he spotted his beaten son in Neil’s arms, “told me to… p..ick you guys up…”

His facial expression molded into a terrified one, and he shot back up to meet Neil’s eyes in horror. Neil just stared back at him. Before Neil could register it, Max was swiped from his hands and was being cradled in his father’s strong arms.

“Max? Max, what happened?! Can you hear me? Max!” He was pleading, tone terrified to hell and back.

“Shut up, David,” Neil heard Max faintly, “I’m fine.”

“We- we need to get you medical attention right now!” David exclaimed, and started rushing to the car.

“Nikki, come on,” Neil grabbed her arm and ripped her away from Nerris as they followed David to the car.

Neil got in the back seat while Max was placed gingerly in the passenger’s seat. He looked out the window and saw the others beginning to stand and wave to them. Nikki leaned forward so she was visible behind Neil and waved back to them. They drove off.

“Neil, Nikki,” David looked at them through the front mirror before focusing back on the road, “what happened? Can you tell me?”

“Max got beat up by some kids,” Nikki explained, her voice at its normal loudness, but still calm. She sniffled, before continuing, “we beat them up too.”

David was silent. Some time passed before he spoke again.

“Are you two okay?”

“Relatively unharmed,” Neil answered.

“I’m okay, too,” Nikki chimed.

“Good,” he responded back. Usually he would have turned the radio on at this point, or Nikki would be excitedly asking David questions, Neil noted to himself, but this time the car was silent.

“David?” Neil jumped when he heard Nikki’s voice.

“Yes, Nikki?”

There was a pause.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

“I’m…” they hit a stoplight and David stared out the window, “I’m starting to think I’m not the best person for Max to be living with.”

Neil and Nikki exchanged fearful gazes.

“I’m going to take him to the hospital,” the redhead said, “and I’ll leave it to him to decide there.”

“Okay,” the green-haired girl was crying again. She wiped her tears.

Neil just stared at the floor of the car. His eyes stung and blurred and his throat hurt like hell. He didn't stop the tears from coming this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHAH,,,, im not sorry :') *hard knock life plays in the distance*
> 
> oh by the way! if i made a tumblr where you guys could ask questions about the story and stuff would anyone be interested??? let me know :0
> 
> im in the middle of class as i post this lmao


	12. Gone Pale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> after something comes up, neil has harrison and preston go check on max at the hospital.
> 
> ( there's a brief mention of vomiting towards the beginning, so you don't have to read that if you don't want to!)

Children flooded out of the school house after the final bell of of the Tuesday afternoon school day rang. Harrison walked alongside his boyfriend, Preston, as they followed the crowd of their peers. Something had come up for Neil, and he had asked Harrison to make sure Max was alright in the hospital. Given that his parents… honestly didn’t care whether or not he came home on time, he had agreed. Preston had overheard the conversation while walking to the lunch table and, after some persuasion, Harrison decided to let him come along as well. 

A chill ran down the illusionist’s neck and he shivered, pulling his black suit jacket up from its loose tying on his waist and putting it on. That Tuesday afternoon was a particularly cold one. It had been raining hard when the day first began. Thankfully, however, It cleared up as the day went by. By the time that (the eerily hollow) lunch rolled around, the gloomy rain clouds had dispersed and cleared up ever so slightly. The sun was out, but it was still incredibly cold and wet.

Harrison’s suit jacket was pretty thin, and cheap too- he had bought it at the thrift store one particular afternoon when his parents had thrown him out of the house in fear of him. It was a pretty normal occurrence, so he wasn’t all that shaken up by it. It had been happening since he was much younger. He’d concluded that it was due to his magical abilities. When he was much younger, he had caused his older brother to disappear while he was assisting him with one of his novice magic tricks. Harrison had tried desperately to bring him back, but to no avail. His parents had been scared of his abilities ever since then. At first, the shunning and neglect from the two people who once loved and praised his skills hurt a lot. It hurt very much, more than he could ever put into words, even now. But he grew used to it eventually after a few years, and focused on practicing to perfect his flimsy magic.

When he had gone to Camp Campbell, all the campers were amazed by his skills and tricks. Although some were cynical and unimpressed, a vast majority remained stupefied by his magic. He practiced and performed almost every day. Nobody ever really grew tired of it, somehow, despite the overall rotten attitude of the campers. Harrison had concluded one night as he was walking back to his tent that he liked it here. It was a downgrade from his life at home, but an upgrade in the category of his charisma and the number of friends he had.

The person he felt closest to was Preston. They shared a tent all summer. Preston was very... discernable from all the people Harrison knew. He was passionate about his interests, a trait they shared, even if at different velocities. He loved acting and theatre and Broadway musicals. The first night of camp, Preston entered their tent and began talking to Harrison like they were already best friends. He had so much to say, moving his body and hands to attempt to fully express his thoughts and feelings as he went along. Harrison had been disinterested at first, but eventually grew into the shoes of interest, even chiming in to drop his two cents every now and again. Preston allowed him to perform some of his magic tricks and was amazed. He declared Harrison the special effects manager of the next play he was going to write.

They stayed up all night talking and going back and forth about their interests and home life and such, despite the ramifications it would have on their performance during activities that day. The second day of camp was a dreary day, kind of like the one they were dealing with now. 

“So,” Preston spoke as they walked. It was so cold that his breath was present, which was honestly a comforting thing to him; a sign that the other boy was real, not just one of the many imaginary friends he had dreamt up over the years to assist him in wading through the murky loneliness, up to his knees, “which direction is the hospital?”

Harrison paused and looked around, trying to jog his memory. When the solution came to mind, he pointed his finger, “it should be down the road here- boop!”

They pressed on and walked in silence. It was unlike them- usually Preston talked all about his day and they exchanged stories of happenings from the day’s classes. But today was different. They were sent to visit their friend in the hospital. ‘Friend’, in air quotes. Max was a fellow ex-Campbell camper, but they both admitted to not knowing him very well at all. Regardless, Harrison enjoyed any social interaction from people his age that he could soak up, so couldn’t not jump at the chance to see him… especially after yesterday. The scared, ominous feeling he felt in his stomach was still very recognizable, as they trekked round the school to find the missing Max. When he saw the pathetic state the boy was in, he wanted to both cry and vomit at the same time. Preston cried, but only after David drove off with Neil, Nikki, and Max. Harrison had comforted him, but found it all rather odd all the while. He had to admit, Preston tended to be an arrogant, jaded asshole- they all did, actually, so it came off as a surprise when they all showed heavy empathy for Max. The only people who didn’t cry were him, Ered, and Nerris, but they did share a mutual feeling of perturbation.

“Do you think Max is okay?” Harrison finally broke the silence, turning his head to look at his significant other.

“We can always…. Hope for the best?” Preston offered as consolation after a few moments of thinking. He was clearly trying his best to remain positive during the eye of the storm.

“Man,” the magician rubbed the back of his head, a guilty kind of expression painting his features, “if only there were some kind of… spell that could cure him.”

“Alas,” Preston put his arm over his forehead dramatically as he nosedived into a passionate speech, “magic has no effect on the dreadful state of his cold, hard shell - our companion must recover on his own, fighting tooth and nail against the world!”

The two children walked the three remaining blocks to the hospital. A light drizzle started back up, and they rushed off to reach the destination quicker. The inside of the building wasn’t much better in terms of warmth, Harrison had noted as they stepped in, but at least it was away from the rapidly increasing rainstorm. Preston took his time wiping off his boots on the front mat, as Harrison approached the front desk and stood on his toes, grabbing onto the surface.

“Um, we’re here to see Max,” he paused. Harrison realized he didn’t remember, or even know Max’s last name. He quickly improvised with, “he came in yesterday at about four.”

The receptionist smacked her gum and looked down at her clipboard, scanning down the paper. Eventually she picked up her pen and scribbled something down on it, before her gaze finally returned to the boy.

“He’s down the hall, on the right. Room 106,” she tossed her head in the direction boredly.

Harrison turned back to his boyfriend, who was just finishing cleaning the dirt off his boots, and waited for him to catch up. They walked down the hall, brightened only by the familiar lighting of the fluorescent lights. Some of the doors down the hall were slightly ajar, revealing some kind of sick patient. It didn’t take a scientist to deduct that Preston seemed pretty on edge. Harrison exhaled a deep sigh as he opened 106’s door. He stepped inside, Preston poking in after him.

They found Max staring out the window. He was dressed in a burgundy shirt with matching pants, a pair of socks on his feet, unorthodox from the usual hospital gown that Harrison was used to seeing. The two boys exchanged glances and pressed forward.

“Hey there Max,” Harrison said, semi-cheerfully.

“Hello Max,” Preston laced his and Harrison’s fingers together. An awkward smile was plastered all over his face, “that’s, um… a stunning outfit!”

“It’s the hospital’s clothes,” Max rolled his eyes, “what the hell do you two want?”

“Neil asked us to come and see you,” the magician said, “he told us that something came up but he still wanted to make sure you were okay, so…”

Max’s features visibly softened, “he wanted to make sure I was okay?”

Harrison nodded. Max paused, going to put his fists in his pockets but stopping short once he realized that he was without his beloved blue hoodie at the time, and simply let his arms fall awkwardly at his sides. 

“So, how ARE you doing?” Preston asked the obvious question, eyes trailing as he watched Max sit on his bed.

The boy shrugged, “doctor said I’m fine aside from all the bruises and shit. They’re gonna prescribe me some medicine so I won’t get dizzy and have seizures when I stand up. Said I should be discharged by Friday, I think.”

“That’s fantastic!” Preston replied enthusiastically, clasping Harrison’s hands. Harrison took note of the odd look he gave them.

“So, like, are you two going out or some shit?” He asked.

“Max, we-” Harrison stumbled over his words, “we have been going out for three weeks.”

“Wait, really? I didn’t notice.”

He moved to stand up and, when he did, his face paled. He stumbled. Harrison was quick to act, grabbing onto Max’s arm and helping him get back on the bed. There was a tense silence that filled the air. The boys watched as their hospitalized companion slowly returned back down to Earth, shaking his head rapidly. He held his head, eyes narrowed.

“Are you okay?”

“Why does it matter to you?” Max suddenly snapped.

“I was just asking,” Harrison put his hands up defensively, “there’s no need to get angry.”

The boy groaned and flopped onto his back on the bed. He stared up at the boring white light on the ceiling. Harrison cleared his throat awkwardly, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. He noticed Preston watching the rain through the window. He had that look of inspiration in his eyes, taking his notepad from his bag as he began briskly writing something down in his loopy, fancy cursive writing. The magician was surprised he still used it- it was something that was gradually being phased out from schools over the years. It probably would have helped if it weren’t mandatory when he was younger; his parents almost had him held back because of his inability to learn it in third grade.

“Hey,” Max said suddenly, and Harrison glanced over at him attentively, “how’d you two get together anyway?”

“Oh, well-”

“Oh Max, I’m so delighted that you asked!” Preston was back down on Earth in seconds, grabbing onto the end of the hospital bed excitedly with sparkling eyes. Max stared at Harrison with an ‘I’ve made a grave mistake’ kind of expression.

“Let’s see,” he tapped his chin, eyes rolling into a different direction as he tried to recall, “it all started on the last day of summer. In a WONDERFUL stroke of luck, we bumped into each other in town.”

“He kind of just told me he had a crush on me in front of a bunch of strangers,” Harrison said flatly, smiling slyly when Preston looked somewhat offended.

“Correction: I made a proud and brave declaration of love for you!” He said pointedly.

“Sure you did,” Harrison replied sarcastically, chuckling warmly when Preston’s lips met his cheek. Max gagged.

“So, Max,” Preston began, interest soaking his voice, “when are you and Neil getting together? I need to know!”

“Neil doesn’t even like me,” Max said after a beat, “there’s no way in hell he’d get with me, ever, and that’s a fact-”

“He has a crush on you, Max,” Harrison said flatly.

“...What?”

“He does,” Harrison said, confused that the other seemingly had no caught no wind of Neil’s affections.

“Have you SEEN the way he looks at you?” Preston said, in the most chill voice he could muster, “and the way he talks about you… AH! It’s so… passionate! It’s just like Heathers!”

“The 80s movie or the shitty stageplay adaptation?” Max asked, probably solely out of curiosity.

“The stageplay, and it’s NOT shitty,” Preston replied in a huff.

“But,” Max sat up, eyes narrowed just enough to show a good amount of skepticalness but still remaining curious as he spoke to Harrison, “you’re like, not fucking with me, are you?”

“Not at all!” He felt himself brighten significantly, placing his hands on his hips.

Max opened his mouth to say something when suddenly the door opened. A rather small, chubby nurse with brown hair came in, heels clicking against the floor as she read over her clipboard.

“Max,” her voice was soft, “there’s a Miss Deidra here to see you.”

Max’s eyes widened. Harrison raised an eyebrow, gazing to Preston, who shrugged at him. They turned to look at Max for an answer, but he didn’t return their gaze.

“I don’t want to see her,” he hissed.

“But it’s your mother,” the nurse pressed. Harrison and Preston’s eyes widened.

“I said I don’t wanna fucking see her,” the nurse cringed at his use of language, “she probably just wants to come and tell me how much fucking trouble I’ve been causing everyone these few weeks.”

Max stood, fists clenched angrily at his sides as he yelled, “why don’t you just tell her to leave me a-”

He swayed and collapsed onto the floor.

Preston’s voice was tense, “what happened?”

“He’s alright,” the woman spoke patiently as she scooped Max up and tucked him up in the bed, “Max just isn’t able to handle a lot of pressure at the moment, the doctor says.”

Once the child was neatly tucked into the bed, she ushered Harrison and Preston out of the room and back into the lobby. When they got there, another nurse was calmly talking to a very angry woman, with tan skin and black hair, trying to get her to calm down. They seemed to unanimously assume it was Max’s mother. The nurse’s attempts to calm the woman down didn’t seem to be of any avail, as she was only getting angrier.

“I have the right to see him! I’m his biological parent!” She exclaimed, then her gaze focused on the two boys, “he’d rather see these… punks instead of his own mother!”

Harrison short-circuited, stopping flat in his tracks. He threw himself backwards so that his gaze, which he hoped and assumed deadly, was on the woman. She glared back, and Preston gently grabbed ahold of his arm, but he didn’t let up.

“Maybe he has a reason,” his voice was deadpan, almost flat. Preston pulled him along, whispering snide remarks about the woman’s attitude under his breath.

They exited the building and went back into the cold afternoon air. It was raining now, as it was this morning.

“Well… what do we do now?”

“I think,” Harrison sighed, “we should just go home, Preston.”

“Right, of course! We’re close to the bus stop anyways. Perfect!”

Harrison took his hand and lead him off to the bus stop, which was just at the end of the street. They sat out there in the cold, only covered from the rain by the covering above the bench. The bus came not too long after thankfully, and the boys boarded, sitting in the back.

The ride took about a half an hour to get even remotely close to the neighborhood. It was then that they both decided to just get off and walk the rest of the way. Thankfully, Preston had packed an umbrella in the side pouch of his backpack, which saved them from getting completely drenched in the rain. Since Preston lived on a different street, they had to depart about halfway. Harrison kissed him on the cheek and he chuckled, trying to hide his goofy smile. They waved goodbye as he ran down the sidewalk and disappeared into his house, before the illusionist’s smile disappeared and he started down the road to his own house.

When he got to his home, his parents’ car was gone. They hadn’t given him a spare key.

He was locked out.

As much as he wanted to believe that it wasn’t intentional, that it was a stroke of misfortune and they were out looking for him right now, he couldn’t believe it. There was one thing that he knew certain though- his parents didn’t want him. Harrison’s stomach dropped and he clutched his backpack, head turned down to the ground as he exited the porch and walked back into the rainstorm.A car drove past him and stopped up at the end of the end of the street. He wasn’t exactly sure where to go at the moment, so he just started walking up the road.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HMMM.... dare i say this is not the best thing ive written? its not bad, but i could probably do better...? i had to use the 'quantity not quality' rule here because honestly... i have no clue how to write harrison or preston.
> 
> ANYWAYS, this is a birthday gift for my buddy arty. i would die for him. arty bby if youre reading this happy birthday my dude id die for u
> 
> (PS: about that tumblr thing...... i know some people who read dont have accounts or have anxiety with commenting so they cant send in their thoughts so like... im actually gonna assume some of u are interested. ill have the blog up by tomorrow hopefully! ily all <3 )


	13. In Between The Fluorescent Lights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> after reminiscing on the past, max finds himself near-paralleling a past incident with david.
> 
> (there's a few mentions of child abuse from the past, and max has an anxiety attack, so you don't have to read it if you don't want to!)

When Max woke up from his unconscious state, his previously visiting companions were missing. He assumed that they had simply grown tired of waiting for him to wake back up and went home, or the nurse had ushered them out right then and there. In any case, he was alone right now, the only sounds in the room being his heavy breathing and the gentle, never ending buzzing noise from somewhere in the building.

Max thought about Neil and Nikki. He remembered how Neil squeezed his hand when they went to leave the hospital yesterday. He remembered Nikki’s scared, fearful expression as she hid behind David’s leg. And David… he was crying. It was a subtle cry, tears rolling down his cheeks and staining them, the light shining on wet trail. Max had tried to talk to them, tried to tell them to quit being sappy, but his words were raspy and quiet, falling upon deaf ears. Eventually he quit and watched as they were escorted from the room.

He woke up in the middle of the night, sore as hell. The room was dark and the wind was wailing a sad melody from outside the window. He started calling out for Jasper. The soft pleas turned into screams, as he switches gears and cried out for David. He drawled the man’s name out so much as if he were to call loud and long enough, the man would come running. Eventually some of the nurses scurried in and tried to calm him down. He was delusional, inconsolable. It was actually his first night without David in months. Even when he got sent home to live with his parents again for a short while after camp, Max had threatened David if he didn't give him his number.

_He texted Max night and day. Just little pick-me-ups like ‘Have a great day! :)’ or ‘Call me if you need anything.’_

_One night it was bad. Worse than bad. His parents had both come home drunk and fighting after crashing into a mailbox. His dad came up to his room in a wasted rage, and threw him into a wall, brutally cursing him out. His mom laughed, and they left him curled up on the floor there. Eventually Max gained enough strength to crawl back into his room. He did the only thing he could think of: he called David._

_The phone beeped a few times. Max swallowed back the sob that threatened to spill._

_“Max?” The boy’s heart just about jumped from his chest in that startling moment when the adult on the other end picked up, “why are you calling me at eleven PM?”_

_“David,” Max felt his lip quiver, “I’m really fucking scared, okay? My dad hit me and my mom laughed. They're both drunk and yelling at each other downstairs, and-”_

_“Max, slow down,” David’s voice was calm, “do you need someone to come get you?”_

_He inhaled a sharp breath, mentally weighing his options. His heart thumped when he heard a vase shatter from the living room._

_“Please,” he choked._

_There was a silence on the other end of the line for a moment, aside from a few faint whispers before the response came, “okay. Can you get some of your stuff together? Take a couple of things you need.”_

_“I don't have anything,” his voice cracked._

_“What do you mean, Max?”_

_“All I have are the clothes I’m wearing and the bed,” Max quivered, “they took everything from me to fucking buy alcohol and drugs over the summer.”_

_“Oh, Max…” David’s voice was sad, sympathetic._

_“Just, meet me behind the bowling alley on 10th street,” Max said._

_“I’ll be there in about twenty minutes. Stay safe, okay?”_

_“Sure, whatever.”_

_Max felt his heart sink when the line went dead. He clutched his phone tightly and put it in his hoodie pocket, getting up to the open window. He jumped out and landed in the bushes below, tuning out the sounds of objects being thrown and parents yelling as he walked off into the warm night._

_Friday night meant hustle and bustle all round the city. The bowling alley was no exception, busier than a hive of honeybees in a flower field. Chitter and chatter rang out through the back door as Max sat on an empty crate, waiting for David. It was getting later and colder now, Max having arrived at the scene in about five minutes. His parents lived in a rundown apartment in the busier part of the city._

_Eventually, the wait with the added pain caused him to grow tired. Max curled up, hugging his legs to his chest and closed his eyes, drifting off into a sleepy state._

_“Max?” The boy looked up upon hearing his name being spoken. The soft lights hanging up on the brick wall shone on, helping to reveal David as he pressed forward._

_“You actually came,” he sat up, rubbing his tired eyes. It felt like no time had passed at all._

_“Of course I did,” he said with a thin, warm smile, “I said I’m always here for you, and I meant it.”_

_Max hopped off the crate and dusted himself off. He walked beside David as they started to head off to the car._

_“Did you eat tonight? Do you want to get something?”_

_“I’m fine, David,” Max replied, but David wasn't convinced._

_“There's a diner just across the street. We can get you cleaned up there and get something to eat,” he insisted. Max grumbled._

_“Okay, fine.” He was annoyed on the outside, but inside he was beyond grateful for the act of kindness._

_The pair didn't speak much during the belated dinner. By that time, it was almost midnight. Most things around the town were open twenty-four hours, thankfully. When his food arrived, Max poked at it for a while before finally giving in and eating it. He very begrudgingly allowed David to carry him into the car where he was buckled in safely, and fell asleep._

_When he woke up he was covered up in a couple of thick blankets, back in his room at the apartment. His heart sank- had it all been a dream?_

_“Max, get ready for school now!” His mother snapped._

_He sighed, beyond disappointed, as he reached to grab his hoodie. He balled his fists into his pockets, a confused look painting his features as he pulled out a piece of paper from the pocket._

**_Max:_ **  
**_I had to take you home to avoid any kind of legal ramifications. I’m so sorry. I hope you don't think this means I don't care._ **  
**_Right now I'm going to do what I can to get you out of that house. There's no guarantee you'll end up with me, but I’m trying my best. I’ll do whatever I can to ensure that future for both of us._ **  
**_Call me if you need anything, alright? I’m always here for you._ **  
**_Love, David._ **

_“Max!” His mother’s tone was venom as she repeated his name. He just grumbled, slinging his backpack over his shoulder as he left his room._

_The very next day Max was pulled from class, and the rest was history._

Max curled up in the hospital bed under the blanket as his shaky, audible breath started up again. He couldn't do this, he didn't want to do this. _David left him and it was his fault it was all his fault he hated him Neil hated him he made Nikki cry his mom had come earlier she was going to take him away **he was bad bad bad bad-**_

“Max! Maxwell, calm down!” The voices of one of the nurses snapped him back to reality. He looked up at her.

“Where's David?” He asked.

“Honey, who's David?” She tilted her head.

“My-” Max choked, “my dad.”

He said David’s number aloud. The nurse scribbled it on her clipboard.

“I’ll see if I can get ahold of him, okay sweetheart? Just rest for now,” her voice was sweet as sugar. She turned heel and walked out of the room.

Max felt dizzy and tired. He turned onto his side, allowing his eyes to slowly glue themselves shut. He was going crazy not knowing the time right now.

He had only been to the hospital one time before this, and that was when he was six. His father had pulled his arm from the socket. He let out an angry string of swear words, tossing his son in the car and driving off with him. He didn’t tell any of the doctors what really happened when he got there. His father deemed it as him being good and rewarded him with a pat on the head. His parents never beat him that badly again, but they didn’t exactly let up either. Max grew older and stronger and smarter as the years went by. By the time he was seven, he had learned how to clean and dress a wound. By the time he was eight, he knew how to stitch. He learned his parents’ behavior patterns too. When one of them came home and slammed the front door shut, usually fussing about something, that was the cue to stay out of their way. When they’d come home and start watching the television, they were okay.

The nights when he’d hear them come home and flick on the TV were scarce. Sometimes they didn’t happen for months. They were practically unavoidable. He’d have to stay in his room in silence until his parents went to sleep to sneak out and get food. Max learned right quick that he needed to be fast and silent. He still felt the phantom hands of his father around his neck every now and again.

“Max,” the nurse poked her head back in, “your dad is here to see you.”

His dad? Oh god. Oh no. _Please no, don’t let him in please **don’t let him near me no no no no please don’t hurt me-**_

His thoughts went quiet when David stepped in the room. Max noted his eyes were red, like he had been crying again. He was in his pajama bottoms and a long-sleeved white shirt. The black sneakers he donned squeaked against the floor as he walked towards Max’s bed.

“David,” Max whispered, his voice cracking. The realization hit him, and he shot up, “why did you come here?”

“The nurses said you were asking for me,” he answered. Max couldn’t remember most of tonight, but he did faintly remember being beyond hysterical and asking for David.

“You didn’t have to come, you know,” the boy reminded him.

“I wanted to. You deserve to have someone looking out for you, especially now,” the redhead knelt down so that he was at Max’s height, placing a hand on his son’s shoulder gently, “and I need to start being that person. I always thought… taking care of a child was so easy; that you just had to be nice to them and they’d be okay. But you, you need so much more than what I’m giving.”

“David, I’m fine. You’re doing fine,” the boy insisted.

He shook his head, “I want to start being there for you again, Max.”

“David-”

“I want you to feel like you can come to me about these kinds of things”.

“David…”

“I just need to start doing better-”

“David!”

Max squinted when he finally managed to catch the man’s attention. He thought back to the rainy Monday that his mother had decided to… pay a visit. No wonder David felt like he wasn’t doing a good job. That pissed him off. Yeah, David could be annoying, but he didn’t deserve to be hurt. That was HIS job, anyways.

“Sometimes shit happens, David. Shit that we can’t control. That doesn’t mean you’re doing a bad job at…” he gestured around, “at all of this. Because you… you aren’t, okay? It’s just how things are. It’s not your fucking fault that life is full of shit.”

“Max,” he looked away, sheepishly, “are you sure? You know you don’t have to pretend to like it here.”

“You’re stuck with me, David,” Max said flatly, “and I’m stuck with you. And if you don’t like that, too fucking bad.”

His disappointed frown soon molded into a small smile. Max kept his normal unamused look on his face.

“Don’t think that I give a shit or anything,” Max said as the redhead sat next to him, arms resting on his legs as he slouched over, eyes pointed to the boy.

“Okay, Max,” he said, voice gentle, but the pinch of sarcasm was evident.

“Shut up, dad!” Max pointed an accusing finger at him.

It took them both a moment to properly process the words that had just left Max’s mouth. David stared at him in shock, and Max realized how easily the word just slipped out.

“I- shit, I didn’t mean-”

“You called me dad,” he said in awe, “I’m your dad? Can I be your dad?”

Max embarrassedly rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. What he wouldn’t do for a bridge to jump off of right now, “I have a feeling you aren’t going to take no for an answer.”

David’s smile brightened and he grabbed the child, holding him close and tight, “I’m a dad! Woohoo!”

“You’re-” Max stopped, and let a faint smile find his face. He reached to embrace David, softly speaking, “yeah, you are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is like.... a few hours late because i was really busy in school today and i couldn't get to this chapter. sorry for being a spotty bastard
> 
> by the way, you guys can talk to me now! https://chevremere.tumblr.com/ send me some asks or messages!! :>


	14. Old Time's Sake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> when david and jasper both find they can't sleep, they reminisce on their childhood.

It took all the willpower David’s tired mind could muster to not crash while on the road. His plan was to stay with Max til he fell asleep, then have Jasper visit during the day. He honestly did feel bad about having to leave, but he’d ran out before without waking his partner to tell him first already. If he woke up and saw David was missing, he’d probably have a bad freakout and call the cops. And that was something David couldn't afford to deal with. Again.

He pulled into his driveway and stepped into the cold early morning air after locking up his car. The door creaked open as he unlocked it, much to his dismay. He hoped the lacking of his presence hadn't woken Jasper; the latter slept very lightly and woke up at the slightest of stirs. He hadn't budged when David’s phone had rang, nor when he had gotten up to go drive to the hospital. Or, that's what he saw, at least.

However, his hopes were short-lived- he stepped into the house and Jasper was immediately there, arms wrapped around him tight in a crushing hug. He was quivering ever so slightly at the knees, face burrowed into his neck. David immediately felt bad and wrapped his arms around Jasper in turn, rubbing his back softly.

“Jasper,” David began, his voice hushed, “are you okay?”

“I… I don't- I thought-” Jasper choked out, “I thought you left for good.”

“What?” David felt his eyebrows furrow at the statement, “why would I ever do that?”

“I thought you hated me for not being able to take care of Max,” his answer came after a short pause, voice unsure, as if treading into a territory that it shouldn't be, “I thought you wanted nothing to do with me.”

“I- Jasper, no!” David grew panicked inside at his partner’s words. He took his shoulders softly before speaking, “you know I could never leave you. I love you too much. We've built too much together to just quit now.”

He melted inside when Jasper looked up at him with those wonderful pale blue eyes. The ones he'd fallen in love with so many years ago. He smiled warmly and their foreheads pressed together. The feeling of butterflies in David’s stomach never left him, even to this day- especially when their lips connected and they became one for a short time. It was a magical feeling that nothing in the world could replace.

“I love you,” the smaller of the two said softly, and the redhead smiled.

“I love you too.”

He smiled and laced their fingers together, leading Jasper up the stairs and back into their bedroom. They both laid down on their backs, Jasper positioning himself so that his head was on David’s chest. The redhead rested the back of his head in his hands, staring up at the ceiling. The room fell silent aside from the hardly audible and gentle breathing from both of them. It was… comforting. He tuned the world around him out in that time- the only people he knew were Jasper and himself. In that moment, all in the world was still and peaceful.

“Hey Davey,” he was somewhat startled when his name was said, eyes wide as he let his pupils slide over to where his partner lay, “you still awake?”

David hummed softly in response, and tilted his head so that his cheek rested on Jasper’s hair.

“I can't sleep,” Jasper said, a slight pout in his voice.

“Me either,” the redhead admitted after a beat, “I was so tired on the road, too….”

Jasper sat up and grabbed the remote off the nightstand, turning on the television. David sat up, back leaned against the wall of pillows they had resting against the headboard, watching as the bright, flashy images on the screen changed rapidly with the soft clicking sound of the remote control’s buttons. Eventually, Jasper seemed to find something he liked, as his features lit up, and he scooted back to settle under the blanket. David wrapped an arm around him gingerly. He was about to lift it when Jasper leaned into him.

“Which show is this, again?” David piped up upon taking note of Jasper’s extreme interest. It seemed familiar enough, and the name was on the tip of his tongue, but it just wasn’t coming to him.

“It’s Rocko’s Modern Life,” Jasper was bouncing slightly, and David couldn’t control his smile, “we used to watch this all the time as kids! Don’t you remember, Davey?”

He turned his attention back to the cartoon. Once he heard the forgotten voices of Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson from the B-52’s singing the opening, his eyes lit up, and he grinned brightly.

“Hey…. I do remember this one! The one about the wallaby Rocko and his friend,” he trailed off, cupping his chin and trying to jog his memory, “oh, what was his name again?”

“Heffer,” Jasper’s attention was mostly glued to the television, “Heffer the cow.”

“There was also Filburt and Spunky and the Bigheads,” David counted the characters off on his fingers. When he noticed Jasper no longer listening, he just shrugged and went back to watching the show as well. From what David gathered, the episode revolved somewhat around Rocko’s cranky frog neighbors, the Bigheads, as he mentioned before- specifically the husband of the relationship refusing to acknowledge his son. 

When the commercial break finally came on, Jasper got up off the bed, stretching his arms and legs as he headed to the door. 

“Where are you going?” David asked, and he stopped right in front of the doorway.

“I’m gonna get some ice cream,” he answered casually, “you want some?”

“At two in the morning?”

Jasper shrugged, “what’s wrong with that?”

“It just always seemed like more of a… dessert kind of thing to me,” David said, “you know, after dinner and before bed.”

Jasper snickered, “we’re adults, Davey. We can do whatever we want.”

“That is true….” He found himself trailing off, and quickly came back to reality, “okay, sure, why not? I’ll have some.”

“Alrighty! Stay put, I’ll be back in a jiffy!” Jasper disappeared into the darkness of the hall and David was left alone again. He craned his head back to the TV and boredly watched the commercials that were on.

As promised, Jasper was back within a few minutes, two bowls of ice cream in his hands. He handed one to David, who excitedly took it. He felt like he was almost breaking some kind of law. This was so… unorthodox for him. The first bite was the most satisfying bite of ice cream he’d ever taken in his life. When the cartoon proceeded to roll once again, they both continued watching. 

“I can’t believe your parents let us watch this when we were kids,” David commented as he held up a spoonful of ice cream.

“It was probably ‘cause they knew we wouldn’t get any of the jokes,” Jasper replied. They seemed to both agree unanimously with this theory and continued watching the show.

Eventually the channel shifted off from showing Rocko to an episode of All That after a good hour and a half of the cartoon being ran. David felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him.

“Do you remember this one, Jasper?” He asked, tapping his fingers on his leg to the intro music.

“Boy, do I ever,” Jasper said, rubbing the back of his head, “how could I forget? You’d quote stuff from Everyday French with Pierre Escargot for weeks.”

“I thought it was funny,” David replied softly.

“Well,” he watched Jasper’s eyes avert in thought, “I thought you were cute doing it, at least.”

While it wasn’t the response he was hoping for, David felt himself smile sheepishly- he was a sucker for flattery, especially from people like Jasper. While he enjoyed receiving compliments, he loved giving them out just as much.

“Well, I thought you were cute all the time,” he said softly.

When the other turned his head back to view him with an almost quizzical look, the redhead quickly turned his head away, feeling his face redden. He loved giving out compliments, but… when it came to flirting, he was a goner. Unfortunately for him, Jasper didn’t fluster quite as easily, and could hand out witty replies like candy on Halloween night. And that he did, because before he could even process it, Jasper had started to crawl forward on the bed, lacing their fingers together.

“You thought I was cute?” He asked.

“Yeah,” David admitted, “I.. I still do! You’re very cute, Jasper.”

“Aww,” he batted his eyelashes comically, the kind words earning David a kiss on the cheek, “I think you’re off the heezy too, Davey!”

David wrapped his arms around his partner and held him close. Over the summer he hadn't gotten much physical affection aside from a few pats to the shoulder by Gwen and Cameron. Other than that, he was touch-starved. Luckily for him, though, Jasper loved giving hugs and holding hands and play wrestling and such, which provided David with enough physical contact to make up for the lonely summer. He had to admit… although he loved the camp to death, being back at home with Jasper was one of the things he loved the most.

“It was really lonely at camp without you,” David blurred out before he could stop himself, “I’m not used to sleeping alone.”

“Neither am I,” Jasper said, “everything was so quiet and boring and lonely around here. It was wack. I’m just glad we're back together again, I guess.”

“Yeah,” David said after a thoughtful pause, “me too.”

“So,” Jasper piped up as they watched the show, “how was summer camp?”

David beamed. He always jumped at the chance to talk about Camp Campbell, “oh, it was wonderful! All the children were so great, and Gwen was just fantastic!”

“Gwen? You've never told me about Gwen,” the question, followed by the statement seemed almost unprompted- strange even; did Jasper not trust him? Who did he think Gwen was?

“Gwen was… my co-counselor at the camp,” David explained awkwardly, “she's nice, and smart and funny-”

“Do you like her?”

“As a friend,” David quickly said, then spoke again, “the two of us are…. interested in different kinds of people. It wouldn't work out, even if either of us wanted it to.”

It seemingly took a moment for Jasper to process what the statement meant, before he nodded in understanding. He pulled his legs up to his chest.

“How's the man himself?” He asked, and David knew he was referring to Cameron.

“He's in prison,” the words slipped out so easily, “he got taken away about halfway through the summer.”

“Seriously?!”

“Mm-hm.”

“It's about time,” Jasper stated flatly, squeezing David’s hand, “Campbell was just evil.”

“He really was,” David admitted after a long silence, only filled by the noise of the television, “I just… didn't have anyone else in my life to idolize, you know?... I’m sorry, that I never listened to you before.”

“I understand Davey, I really do,” Jasper squeezed his hand lovingly.

Their eyes met, the brunette’s gaze one not of ‘I told you so’, but of love and understanding. David started wondering how he managed to get so lucky by ending up with Jasper. He definitely wasn’t the best when it came to these intimate-type moments- he was awkward, really, but that didn’t stop the other. He propped David’s arm up around him and leaned his head against David’s shoulder, wrapping his arms around his waist. 

“I’m really glad I met you, Jasper,” David admitted. It felt like they were kids again to him.

“I’m glad I met you too, Davey,” the smaller male’s voice echoed as he squirmed to get comfortable, “you know, we should do this more often.”

“We should! This has been really fun,” David said brightly, “it makes me feel so young again.”

“Oh man,” Jasper chuckled, “remember when we used to do this every Friday night? We’d sneak snacks into my room and stay up watching cartoons until we got caught.”

“Remember when we pulled an all-nighter that one Friday, and ended up having to go into town that afternoon?”

“Do I ever. You almost passed out in the convenience store, you were so tired.”

David laughed, and so did Jasper. They settled back and watched the wall in silence, cuddled close together under the blankets.

“So much has changed since then, huh?” Jasper broke the silence.

“Yeah. Now we’re twenty, and we have our own kid,” David said with a wistful smile, that dissolved when he remembered his son in the hospital, “do you think Max is okay?”

“He’s a strong kid, Davey. I know he’s alright.”

The reassurance didn’t help much, but it soothed his nerves for the moment, at least.

“He called me dad today,” David felt a faint smile creep back up on his face, and a warm feeling crept through his chest.

“He did?”

“It was,” he paused, to find the right words, “it was… nice.”

“I’m really glad he trusts us-” Jasper stopped, and backpedaled, “trusts you, I mean.”

“Aw, Jasper, I’m sure he cares about you too!” David assured him.

“Speak for yourself,” the other yawned, and rubbed his eyes, unbelieving of his words.

“You’ll see it sooner or later,” he insisted, as the lights were turned out and the television turned off.

“Maybe,” was the only response he got to the topic, before it was abruptly changed, “goodnight Davey.”

“Oh,” he cleared his throat, “goodnight Jasper. I love you.”

“I love you too,” he mumbled sleepily, cuddling into David’s side.

Some time passed, but David was still sleepless. Everything that had happened in these few weeks was so hectic. His mind was clouded with thoughts and, eventually, he just decided that he wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight. He glanced over at his sleeping partner, whisked away into a land of his own thoughts and dreams. His heart melted, like it always did when he looked at Jasper. He was so wonderful. He always had been.

“Hey Jasper?” David whispered.

No response, aside from a few soft mumbles.

“I think,” he paused, and took a breath.

“I think I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is late rip???? i've been having a lot of trouble at home ): HOPEFULLY we'll be back on course sooner or later.
> 
> i'm trying to find a good writing schedule so i don't burn myself out on this because i really want this to be the story i write that sticks.
> 
> https://chevremere.tumblr.com/ follow me on tumblr!


	15. As Told By Jasper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> max learns a lot about david.
> 
> (there's a mention of jasper getting attacked by bears towards the beginning, so you don't have to read it if you don't want to!)

The rest of the week passed by slow as hell. There wasn’t much to do around the hospital, especially because it was so heavily staffed. Getting caught would result in a reprimand from one of the nurses, followed by them taking their patient back into the room. The food was bland and hardly did he ever even get to eat, and the visits from people outside were scarce.

And that was Max’s week.

He honestly could not be fucking gladder when Friday rolled around and the sun came out through the storm clouds. It had been a cold week, rainy and windy, with a storm Wednesday night. He practically leapt out of bed when one of the nurses handed him back his clothes in a bag, washed and dried earlier that morning, still warm and fluffy, quickly taking off the uncomfortable hospital clothes and replacing them with his own.

The nurse lead him out into the waiting room where the doctor was talking to Jasper. He quickly rushed to his father’s side, earning a hand ruffling his hair which he promptly swatted away. Jasper visibly flinched and rested his hand back at his side. After a few minutes, the doctor finally went off to go check on a patient, leaving the two to their own business.

“C’mon Max, let’s get home,” Jasper gave him a gentle push towards the door and they started walking, “unless you wanted me to drop you off at school first.”

Max gave him a glare.

“Fair enough,” he responded, “you hungry?”

“Kind of,” he fibbed. He was very hungry.

“We should stop and grab a bite to eat,” Jasper offered as they walked into the parking lot, “I kind of suck at cooking.”

“You really do,” Max stated truthfully in agreement. Jasper just chuckled, and he unlocked the car. The boy crawled in the back and looked out the window boredly.

The two made small talk in the car and at the restaurant. Jasper talked a lot- he talked more than David, somehow, but it was really nice to get to listen to something that wasn’t white noise anymore. Usually, conversations with his parents would be like white noise, but not today. This was the first time he’d been away from that fucking hospital bed for more than a minute in so long, and could talk to someone without worrying about passing out and his guest being escorted away. Max tried not to make it obvious that he was practically starving by taking small bites of his food as he went along. Eventually, they ended up just taking the food home so Max would have something to eat later.

“I’ve gotta run some errands,” Jasper mentioned as they drove on the busy road, “you gonna come with, or do you wanna go home?”

“I’m tired of sitting around,” Max said.

“I never thought I’d hear that,” his dad joked, and he rolled his eyes.

“No, seriously, sitting in that hospital room for a whole week was fucking awful.”

“I hear you. I went to the hospital for a few days when I was your age. It was probably the worst few days of my life ever.”

“You went to the hospital?” Max raised an eyebrow. His fathers were the picture of good health- what reason would he have to be in the hospital?

“Got attacked by a bear,” the answer slipped out so easily, “it slashed me right on the chest.”

Max’s breath evaded him and he cringed, simply replying with a soft, “holy fucking shit.”

“I still have the scars,” they pulled up to a stoplight.

“David told me about that once,” Max noted. Jasper chuckled.

“He told you that phony story, huh?”

“Yeah,” Max nodded, “everyone could tell it was fake, though. He made up a whole bunch of shit in it.”

There was a pause, but not a silence. It was broken by the light turning green, followed by the car continuing.

“You wanna know what really happened?” The question seemed to come out of nowhere amidst the beat of silence between the two.

Max pondered his options carefully for a long moment, before he spoke up, “yeah.”

“Well,” Jasper began, “Davey, Mr. Campbell, and I all went out into the woods to get a branch from the Sleepy Pine Tree. We got lost- really lost.”

“Let me guess: you fell down a cliff.”

“Nope. We ran into a couple of angry bears and I got used as bait. They clawed up my chest and dragged me away.”

“Holy shit. Is he fucking crazy?”

“No… just greedy,” a pause came, “I was bleeding out inside the bear’s cave when Davey came in by himself. He dragged me away and we managed to get back to the camp on our own.”

“Campbell abandoned him?” Max furrowed his eyebrows.

“He sure did. When we got back, Darla stalled Campbell while Gregg drove us to the hospital,” he paused, seemingly in thought, “Davey was lucky enough to get out that afternoon, but I didn't get out for a few days.”

“Jesus Christ,” Max wasn't sure how to feel about his theory of Campbell being some kind of child killer being correct, “that's fucked up.”

“It was a real doozy of a situation alright,” the brunette agreed, “I never went back to camp after that summer. My moms wanted to sue, but I stopped them.”

“Then why did David like him so much?” That was the only question left prying on his mind.

Jasper shrugged, “I think he kept himself in denial for so long because Campbell was the only adult in his life that actually, at the least, pretended to care about him. That camp was his getaway from his parents. It was shit, but it was all he had.”

“That's….”

“Dark, I know. You would have found it all out one day anyways, so it's just best you know now.”

Max stared out the window, deep in thought. He still had more questions that begged for answers. They pulled up to the grocery store and parked close to the entrance. Shuffling was heard from the front seat, presumably Jasper looking around for a shopping list or something. They got out after a few minutes and headed inside.

“Hey Jasper?”

The man in question craned his focus back from one of the shelves, stocked with various food items, to face his son.

“What's crackin’, lil’ dude? See something you like?”

Max paused, looking around the aisle. He stepped forward, “what was David like as a kid?”

Jasper paused, a box of cereal in his hands. His face scrunched up in thought as his pupils flew up to view the ceiling. He halfmindedly set the box into the cart.

“He was,” another pause came, “he was a lot like you, actually.”

“David? No fucking way,” Max shook his head, arms folded across his chest stubbornly.

“He really was. He could be pretty rude to people, he swore a lot, never did anything he didn't want to do,” he trailed off, counting each thing on his fingers, “....no offense, of course.”

The boy shrugged, “none taken.”

“I think the only difference between you and him was,” he stopped again, and went to push the cart forward, “he didn't have any friends. Nobody really liked him because of his bad attitude and his foul language. The kids were pretty awful to him.”

“Jeez,” he slid his hands into his pockets, “so what happened?”

“He really shaped up when we went into ninth grade. Eventually he blew off the whole nasty attitude altogether and started trying to be really happy.”

“So he's faking it? The whole ‘I love everything’ thing?”

“No, not at all,” Jasper looked down at him and their eyes met for a moment before he looked back up, “Davey genuinely has probably the biggest and kindest heart ever. He just… grew up, and realized that he never wanted to put someone else through what he had been through, you know?”

Max nodded.

The rest of the shopping trip went by pretty quietly, aside from the occasional quick asking for something or if something was wanted. Eventually, with their groceries bagged and paid for, they loaded everything up in the trunk and drove off, heading for home. Max would be lying if he said he wasn't used to Jasper’s old music by now. To an extent, he actually almost preferred it. At times he found himself humming a song he'd heard from one of Jasper’s CDs and got stuck in his head. It drove him crazy in the hospital, but it was some form of entertainment if any, at the very least.

When they got home, Max rushed into his room and leapt onto his bed, cuddling Mr. Honeynuts tightly. His bed was so soft compared to the hospital’s. A radio sat in the windowsill softly playing a song, drowning out the silence that was inevitable to come had it not been for it. His room was cleaned up and organized well, he noticed, probably by Jasper, who primarily did the cleaning. All in all, it was just good to finally be home.

He could hear Jasper taking in the groceries downstairs, whistling the song that had been playing in the car. He started to think back to everything that he'd heard today, but he just wasn't sure how to take it. Should he be offended that David had lied to him? Relieved that he knew the truth? There were so many things he could be feeling in the moment but all he felt was confusion.

He looked at the clock- 2:45 PM. School should have gotten out fifteen minutes ago. The bus to the neighborhood usually had to make its rounds to the high school to drop off middle schoolers that transferred to another bus and pick up high schoolers who also lived in the neighborhood. By that time, it was at least 3:00. Taking into consideration that his stop was one of the first ones, the bus should be here by 3:10 or 3:15. There wasn't any point waiting outside right now, since it was pretty early.

Instead, Max just hung back and laid on his bed, listening to the radio. For the while, things were peaceful again. Not in the ‘pseudo hospital peaceful’ sense either; the lingering feeling of dread and losing his mind was finally gone. He'd stopped trying to find the time when he was in the hospital, so it all slipped away from him as a result.

He heard the bus’s engine outside, exhaling exhaust before starting off down the road again. When he peeked out the window, Max saw Neil and Nikki walking down the sidewalk to their house. Nikki suddenly paused and started yanking on the boy’s arm, pointing over to the house in front of them. They started walking up to the door, and a knock was heard.

“I’ll get it!” Jasper called from downstairs. The door swung open audibly. Max stood up, waiting for the inevitable call of his name.

“Max! Your friends are here!”

He walked downstairs and was immediately greeted with Nikki crushing him in a tight hug. He wheezed breathlessly, flailing his arms around. She let go when Neil yanked her back frantically, trying to wrestle away from his grip to get to Max again.

“Nikki,” he drawled out her name, “you’re gonna crush him.”

“Oh,” she stopped, “sorry. Force of habit.”

Max waved her off, then turned, tossing his head towards the stairs, “let’s go to my room.”

His companions followed him into his bedroom. Max and Neil sat down on the bed, whereas Nikki jumped up and curled up like a sleeping animal. Well, she tried to, anyway. It didn’t work very well. 

“So… uh, how was the hospital?” Neil offered awkwardly.

“Fucking terrible,” Max answered.

Nikki shot up, her eyes sparkling, “did they stick any needles into you? Huh? Huh?”

“A couple.”

“Did they operate on you?!” She grabbed him and shook him. When she let go, Max held his head.

“Uh, no,” he mumbled.

“Aw, dang,” she snapped her fingers, pleasantly disappointed.

“What’d I miss in Science?” Max asked, the question moreso directed at Neil. He laid on his back, resting the back of his head in his hands.

“Just bookwork,” he replied with a shrug, “nothing too interesting.”

“Wonderful,” the shorter boy rolled his eyes.

Max suddenly remembered the visit from Harrison and Preston, and he felt his breath hitch in his chest. He gazed over at Neil curiously, and found the latter staring down at his shoes. When Neil glanced back up at him, their eyes met, and Max instantly looked away.

“You guys, uh,” Max sat up, rubbing the back of his head, “wanna watch TV or something?”

“Yeah!” Nikki exclaimed.

“Sure,” Neil said softly, but his voice didn’t seem to agree with his answer. Nonetheless, Max slid off the bed and went downstairs. When the three of them were seated on the couch, he flicked the TV on and started surfing through the channels.

They landed on a channel showing Coraline. Nikki gasped and snatched the remote before Max had a chance to turn the channel again.

“I love this movie!” She said excitedly, bouncing on the couch.

“Haven’t seen it,” Max said.

“I think I watched it when I was younger,” Neil added.

The green-haired girl shushed them both and turned her attention back to the screen. She mouthed along to the lines as they went along. Max was only half paying attention, his mind elsewhere. He was thinking about Neil. It was kind of hard not to, when he’d been told that he aforementioned boy had a crush on him. Neil yawned suddenly and stretched his arms out. He awkwardly wrapped his arm around Max when he lowered it. Max jumped, turning to look at Neil. This time their eyes didn’t meet, as the other’s was glued to the screen. He simply huffed in embarrassment, before subtly scooting closer to him.

Eventually Max relaxed, letting his tense shoulders fall as he watched the movie. He knew he probably should have brought up what was going on, but with Jasper in the other room and Nikki right next to him, it probably would have been awkward…. Okay, definitely awkward. He just opted out of saying anything.

The movie was only a quarter of the way through when they’d started watching it so there was a long way to go before it was over. It was about four o’clock when the credits rolled. Neil finally removed his arm from around Max’s shoulder and got up, stretching out again.

“I love Coraline so much!” Nikki bounced on her feet.

“It was,” Max paused, glancing over to Neil and smirking for a quick second, “better than I thought it would be.”

“We should probably get home,” Neil turned to look at Max.

“But it’s only four?”

“We’ve got a lot of homework to work on.” Neil rubbed the back of his head.

“I don’t-” Nikki stopped when her wrist was grabbed, “okay, see you tomorrow Max!”

“Sure,” he tried to hide the disappointment in his voice, watching as they left out the door. He went back up to his bedroom and sat down at his desk.

Max thought back to what Jasper told him about David. He thought that he had him all figured out up until today. He started to wonder if there were more secrets he kept about himself that he never let see the light of day. It was an interesting thought- but nothing he’d be finding out anytime soon.

The sun started to set, the colors of the sky mixing together to make orange and yellow and pink. Max got up, and sat by the window, watching outside until David’s car pulled up into the driveway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *jumps over a fence and runs at high speed* *dunks myself into a trash bin labeled 'maxneil'* *closes the lid*
> 
> i think i've found a good writing schedule? i'm not positive if it'll be permanent, but we'll see!
> 
> follow me on tumblr! https://chevremere.tumblr.com/


	16. The Smartphone Hour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> nikki decides to try to get neil and max together with some help.

Nikki allowed herself to be dragged out of Max’s home and back into her own home by Neil with a smile on her face all the while. When they walked through the front door her arm was released, her captor moving to pace nervously, hands behind his back and mumbling.

“Neil?”

No answer, the mumbling continuing on. Nikki waved her hand in front of his face.

“Paging Doctor Cucumber; you're needed in the operating room!”

He stopped and looked at her, with a slight scowl, “what is it, Nikki?”

“Why did you run away from Max’s house?” She asked, tilting her head slightly.

“Because!” Neil exclaimed, throwing his hands up, “I had my arm around him during the whole movie and he didn't even say anything! He probably thinks I'm weird as shit!”

“Why would he think that?” She raised an eyebrow - didn't Neil know that Max liked him back?

“Ugh,” he slapped his hands over his eyes, “you wouldn't understand.”

With that, he stormed upstairs in a frustrated huff, slamming his bedroom door loudly. Nikki looked down at the floor, squinting with furrowed eyebrows, poking her chin in thought. When an idea came to her, she gasped and ran upstairs, tossing her bag onto the carpet and grabbing her phone. She would have brought it to school, but the last time she did, she got caught and ended up getting in school suspension for trying to bite one of the teachers. Nevertheless it was with her now. She opened her contacts.

 ** _4:03 PM_ taxevadernikki started the chat.**  
**_4:03 PM_ taxevadernikki added ladyNerris, HarrisonTheMagical, & jason dean is gay to the chat**  
**_4:03 PM_ taxevadernikki has changed the chat name to trashcans**  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** How do you know where I live_  
_**jason dean is gay:** HOW’D YOU FIND MY ADDRESS_  
_**ladyNerris:** lol_  
_**ladyNerris:** hi Nikki!!!_  
_**taxevadernikki:** hi nerris!!!!!!_  
_**ladyNerris:** <3_  
_**taxevadernikki:** <3_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** That's kind of gay, you guys_  
_**jason dean is gay:** WOAH WOAH WAIT A SECOND_  
_**jason dean is gay:** When did THIS become a thing?!_  
_**ladyNerris:** like, two weeks ago, Preston_  
**_4:05 PM_ jason dean is gay has changed their name to Big Gay Preston**  
_**Big Gay Preston:** I had no idea!!!!_  
_**Big Gay Preston:** Tell me EVERYTHING!!!!_  
_**taxevadernikki:** not now preston!!_  
_**taxevadernikki:** we have to get max and neil together somehow!_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** How do we do tjat_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** *that_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** ?_  
_**ladyNerris:** tjat_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** Die._  
_**ladyNerris:** make me!_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** ):<_  
_**taxevadernikki:** guys!!!!!!!!!_  
_**taxevadernikki:** focus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_  
_**taxevadernikki:** preston do you have any ideas????_  
_**Big Gay Preston:** Yes!_  
_**Big Gay Preston:** Neil should proudly proclaim his affections for Max and present him flowers!_  
_**Big Gay Preston:** A bouquet, if I’m allowed to be poetic._  
_**ladyNerris:** permission denied_  
_**ladyNerris:** you shall not pass_  
_**ladyNerris:** besides, Max probably wouldn't even like flowers_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** Then what do you suggest, oh Great And Powerful Nerris The Romantic?_  
_**ladyNerris:** he should recite a poem!_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** Nerris_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** That’s pretty much the same thing_  
_**ladyNerris:** okay okay! how about this_  
_**ladyNerris:** we have Neil proudly reclaim his love for Max_  
_**ladyNerris:** in the form of a poem?_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** I can't believe it: Nerris has a good idea!_  
_**ladyNerris:** says the guy who’s birth was a bad idea_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** Okay that one hurt._  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** Not gonna lie._  
_**Big Gay Preston:** *Whose._  
_**Big Gay Preston:** If you're going to insult somebody, at LEAST use correct grammar and syntax._  
_**ladyNerris:** :/_  
**_4:08 PM_ HarrisonTheMagical renamed the group to Nerris sucks**  
**_4:08 PM_ ladyNerris renamed the group to Harrison sucks _  
4:08 PM_ taxevadernikki renamed the group to trash cans**  
_**taxevadernikki:** ):_  
_**Big Gay Preston:** We came up with the idea of Neil reciting a poem, which is a declaration of his love._  
_**Big Gay Preston:** This is just like Romeo and Juliet! I love it!_  
_**taxevadernikki:** theres one problem with that though_  
_**taxevadernikki:** neil wouldnt do something like that over his dead body!_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** Perhaps we could arrange for that._  
_**ladyNerris:** don't be edgy_  
_**Big Gay Preston:** Hold on, hold on!_  
_**Big Gay Preston:** I’m getting an idea!_  
_**taxevadernikki:** ???_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** What is it?_  
_**ladyNerris:** hmm?_  
_**Big Gay Preston:** Maybe we've been going about this all wrong!_  
_**Big Gay Preston:** Perhaps it isn't Neil who should admit his feelings…._  
_**Big Gay Preston:** But rather, Max!_  
_**ladyNerris:** did you have a brain tumor for breakfast_  
_**taxevadernikki:** yeah the only person more stubborn than neil is max!_  
_**taxevadernikki:** if there were any person in the world that openly admitted that kinda stuff…. their name would be ‘not max’_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** WAIT_  
_**taxevadernikki:** ?_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** Nikki!_  
_**taxevadernikki:** ????????????????_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** You're a genius!_  
_**taxevadernikki:** oh i get called that a lot!_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** A genius?_  
_**taxevadernikki:** no, nikki_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** ….Ok_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** Anyways._  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** What if we got them both in the same place under the guise that Preston needed them to act in one of his plays?_  
_**Taxevadernikki:** we get them to act out a mushy gooey scene and bam!!!!!! instant fireworks :D_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** What do you think Preston?_  
_**Big Gay Preston:** Count. Me. IN!!!!_  
_**Big Gay Preston:** Let’s make magic happen, people! Come on!_  
_**ladyNerris:** the quest for love begins!!_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** We can all meet up at the park?_  
_**taxevadernikki:** sounds good to me!!_  
_**Big Gay Preston:** Yes, perfect!_  
_**ladyNerris:** I’ll have to get a ride, but the lady will be present and accounted for_  
_**taxevadernikki:** hold on ill text max!_

_\--_

_**4:15 PM** _ **taxevadernikki to fuckthebeatles**

 _ **taxevadernikki:** hi max!!!!!_  
_**fuckthebeatles:** hey nikki_  
_**fuckthebeatles:** whats up_  
_**taxevadernikki:** can you come to the park tomorrow?_  
_**taxevadernikki:** preston reeeeeaaaalllyyyy needs actors for his play and everyone else is busy! ):_  
_**fuckthebeatles:** lmao does he really wanna cast me_  
_**fuckthebeatles** : especially after what happened last time during his bullshit romeo and juliet play_  
_**taxevadernikki:** we both know how desperate he can be :/_  
_**fuckthebeatles:** true_  
_**fuckthebeatles:** alright ill be there_  
_**fuckthebeatles:** i guess_  
_**fuckthebeatles:** what time?_  
_**taxevadernikki:** ummmm…. let me ask!_  
_**fuckthebeatles:** alright_

_\--_

_**taxevadernikki:** what time?_  
_**ladyNerris:** when are we all free?_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** I’m free all day_  
_**taxevadernikki:** same_  
_**ladyNerris:** ^^^_  
_**Big Gay Preston:** I am free any time after eleven!_  
_**ladyNerris:** does noon sound good?_  
_**taxevadernikki:** yeah!_  
_**Big Gay Preston:** That is acceptable!_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** Sounds good_  
_**taxevadernikki:** ok!_

_\--_

_**taxevadernikki:** noon!_  
_**fuckthebeatles:** alright_  
_**fuckthebeatles:** see you there_  
_**taxevadernikki:** hey max one more thing???_  
_**fuckthebeatles:** what_  
_**taxevadernikki:** why is your name ‘fuckthebeatles’?_  
_**fuckthebeatles:**_ i dunno  
_**fuckthebeatles:**_ why are you evading taxes  
_**taxevadernikki:**_ >:(

_\--_

_**taxevadernikki:** !!!!he said hes gonna come!_  
_**ladyNerris:** :D_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** Good_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** Waiting for one of them to make the first move was honestly kind of annoying?_  
_**Big Gay Preston:** It’s time to make magic happen!_  
_**Big Gay Preston:** Farewell!_

**_4:26 PM_ Big Gay Preston is now offline**

_**ladyNerris:** there he goes_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** Sometimes I can still hear his voice…_

**_4:26 PM_ Big Gay Preston is now online**

_**Big Gay Preston:** Friendly reminder that I AM getting notifications for this chat._

**_4:27 PM_ Big Gay Preston is now offline**

_**taxevadernikki:** good_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** Lmao_  
_**ladyNerris:** I gotta go too!_  
_**ladyNerris:** the dragon queen made meatloaf for dinner_  
_**taxevadernikki:** bye nerris!!!_  
_**ladyNerris:** <3_  
_**taxevadernikki:** <33_

**_4:32 PM_ ladyNerris is now offline**

_**taxevadernikki:** so..._  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** So_  
_**taxevadernikki:** what now?????_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** I’m not sure..._  
_**taxevadernikki:** *shruggy shrug*_

“Nikki! Neil! Dinner time!” Neil’s father called from downstairs in his usual cheery voice. Nikki bounced off her bed.

 _ **taxevadernikki:** dinner time!!! ill try to get neil to come to the park tomorrow_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** Good luck_  
_**taxevadernikki:** thanks!_

Setting her phone down, the girl skipped out and down the stairs, where Neil was. He was walking to the dinner table, running his hands through his messy hair in frustration. Nikki jumped up and grabbed his shoulders, causing him to shriek.

“Hi Neil!” Nikki greeted him happily, not fazed when her hands were thrown back down to her sides.

“Don’t do that,” he replied, and the two started walking to the dining room. When they sat down, Neil’s father began asking the two of them about their day. Neil brushed him off, but Nikki answered him. When the questions finally stopped coming, she turned to look at the older of the two children.

“Hey Neil, do you wanna go to the park with me tomorrow?” She asked.

“Not really,” he poked at his food.

“Pleeeeease?”

“No, Nikki.”

“Be nice to your sister, Neil,” Candy said, her mind only half on the conversation, the other focused on her phone.

“She’s not my sister!” Neil glared at her, then looked over to his father for help.

“Your mother’s right, Neil. Us dudes gotta be nice to the ladies!” He nudged his son’s arm, the latter of which groaned and dropped his fork.

“You’re all against me!”

Nikki, however, beamed, and yelled, “thanks Carl!”

“Oh, well, you’re welcome-”

His words fell upon her deaf ears as she began scarfing down the food on her plate. It was all gone within moments and, after quickly putting the dishes belonging to her in the sink, she darted upstairs, slamming her door open and shut and leaping on her bed, quick reflexes enabling her to catch the phone that bounced up following her weight.

**_5:07 PM_ taxevadernikki to trashcans**

_**taxevadernikki:** i got neil to come to the park!_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** That’s great!_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** I hope tomorrow goes well_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** For the sake of our patience and sanity lol_  
_**taxevadernikki:** yeah me too!_  
_**taxevadernikki:** why are you still online btw??? do you just eat late or something_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** My parents are just out late running errands again_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** It happens a lot_  
_**taxevadernikki:** aww ):_

**_5:10 PM_ ladyNerris is now online**

_**ladyNerris:** greetings! what did I miss?_  
_**taxevadernikki:** not much!_  
_**taxevadernikki:** neils coming to the park tomorrow!_  
_**ladyNerris:** !!!! good!_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** I’m gonna get started on dinner now_  
_**taxevadernikki:** you cook for yourself?_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** I usually have to because my parents come back when it’s really late_  
_**taxevadernikki:** that sucks!_  
_**taxevadernikki:** have a good eat tho harrison!!!!_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** Thank you Nikki!_  
_**taxevadernikki:** np! seeya!!!_  
_**HarrisonTheMagical:** :)_

**_5:17 PM_ HarrisonTheMagical is now offline**

The chat fell silent after that. Usually Nikki would be having some kind of conversation with Nerris, but tonight, both their minds seemed to be roaming elsewhere. The green-haired girl simply laid back on her bed, kicking her feet up in the air with the back of her head rested in the palms of her hands. When she heard a buzz from her phone, however, she jumped at attention and grabbed it.

**_5:35 PM_ fuckthebeatles to taxevadernikki**

_**fuckthebeatles:** hey wheres neil?_  
_**fuckthebeatles:** hes not responding to my texts_  
_**fuckthebeatles:** again_

Nikki thought out her next text very carefully before actually replying. She couldn’t risk giving anything away.

 _ **taxevadernikki:** i think hes got his phone off again_  
_**taxevadernikki:** :/_  
_**fuckthebeatles:** jesus christ_  
_**fuckthebeatles:** does he ever even have his phone on?_  
_**taxevadernikki:** not a lot_  
_**taxevadernikki:** its really annoying!_

When Max’s reply never came, Nikki set her phone on the nightstand and turned on her TV. She sat in front of the screen on the big green armchair Carl had moved into her room as a gift and watched until it got dark, and the boring stuff came on. At that point she just tuned it out and started to think back to the last time she spent the night at Nerris’s house. When the two adults had kindly informed her about how she should protect Neil if he really did end up liking Max. And it seemed that the odds had turned in that direction. Nikki realized, not only would Neil need to be protected, but so would Max. She could be like their bodyguard!

She’d never let anyone hurt Max or Neil again. Not on her watch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MAN this chapter was??? so fun? i've seen a bunch of people do the whole 'texting/group chat chapter' trope and it looked like so much fun- and it was! this got nice and long too, just like i like it (that's what she said).
> 
> harrison's parents hate squad where you at???
> 
> follow me on tumblr! https://chevremere.tumblr.com/


	17. Romilda And Julien

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> nikki's plan doesn't go quite as expected.

Max sat at the table with his family as David served up breakfast. Every Saturday he made huge fluffy pancakes with lots of syrup, calling it some kind of family tradition. While he found the last part a bit ridiculous, he wasn't about to complain.

“I’m going out to the park today,” Max mentioned offhandedly, stabbing at the food on the sweet syrup-smelling plate, “at noon.”

“That sounds like tons of fun!” David exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air before they briskly returned down to just above the table’s level to poke the pancake onto his fork.

“Yeah,” the boy sighed breathily, the sarcastic tone very clear in his voice as he rolled his eyes, “it'll be a real blast.”

Jasper snorted at the comeback, his mouth clamped shut as he chewed his food. Their gazes crashed into each other for a short moment before the man’s slid over to look at David. He hadn't seemed to pick up on the sarcasm in his voice as he simply ate with the same wide grin on his face. If he had picked up on it, he sure didn't seem bothered by it.

Max was downstairs watching TV when there was a pounding on the door. It wasn't menacing or threatening, or anything of the like, it was just someone pounding both their fists on the door loudly and quickly. Back and forth, in a set pattern.

“Maaaax! It's time to go!” Nikki exclaimed from outside. The pounding had briefly stopped as she spoke, only to start right back up after her voice halted.

“Okay, okay,” he called back to her, hopping up and off the couch. He slid his shoes on and yelled, “I’m going out!”

“Okay!” Jasper's approving response came from upstairs.

“Be careful!” David’s voice came after.

“Whatever,” he said, pitch somewhere between a low yell and an indoor voice, as he turned the knob to exit the house.

Nikki was standing there on the porch, a big grin plastered on her face, hands on her hips and legs spread out slightly. She whirled around, green pigtails bouncing and swooshing as she skipped the small porch steps and leapt down onto the pavement. Max opted to walk down the steps, hands in his pockets. Nikki was quick to take the lead, marching along down the street and humming a tune that Max swore was familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

The park was a couple of blocks away from their street, so they were quick to arrive, even on foot. When they got there Nikki rushed to the swingset and threw her body onto one of the swings, landing on her stomach. She whooped and hollered, kicking her feet at the bark and swinging back and forth. Max watched her for a moment, slightly amused, before he scanned around. Nerris was playing on the jungle gym, swinging her sword around. Preston was on the bench on the grass, hunched over. His eye was twitching and he was holding a coffee mug in his hands. Harrison was sitting next to him, patting his shoulder comfortingly. Neil was pacing around on the bark, reading something on a paper, holding a thin stack under the aforementioned one on top of the others.

Max walked over to him, casually beginning a conversation with, “you got roped into this stupid thing too, huh?”

Neil jumped and craned his head back, pupils darting about as he looked at Max, “uh, yeah…. Nikki didn't tell me you were coming.”

“She didn't tell me you were coming either,” the shorter boy replied casually, throwing his shoulders into a soft shrug.

“At least I won't have to deal with having to do this whole thing with Harrison,” the name was spoken with a slight venom, laced and weaved into the tone as icy blue eyes made their way to gaze at the magician.

“I guess that's a good thing,” the reply came after a beat, both boys looking at Preston and Harrison. Max pressed forward, approaching the occupied bench, “hey Preston.”

The boy was sipping on his coffee when the greeting came. He instantly shot up, arm snapping back as an iron grip released the mug into Harrison’s careful hands. It was exchanged with the papers in his lap, as they were entrusted to Max, golden honey eyes with sleepless night bags traced under them looking at his face.

“Your script, good sir,” he said simply, “you're playing the role of Romilda. Now please. Go practice.”

“Yeah, sure,” Max turned heel and walked off, pressing his back against the lower end of the swirly slide, one leg crossed over the other as he skimmed the lines. He quickly let his eyes move away from the paper to look at Neil, who was chewing on his already short nails as he read along.

His focus was interrupted when Nerris bumped his back while going down the slide. He grumbled and turned back to look at her.

“Watch it,” he warned.

“Sorry Max!” She replied simply, running over to Preston’s bench. Nikki was quick to follow.

It was quiet for another moment before Preston stood, announcing, “alright people, let's get to rehearsal!”

Max rolled his eyes and moved in, standing at Neil’s side. Nerris slapped the clapper loudly.

“And… Action!” The director exclaimed. Neil wheezed and cleared his throat quietly.

“Another woman used as a sacrificial bride to the God of wind,” Nikki read off her paper, balling her hand into a fist and placing it over her heart.

“It's that terrible priest’s fault,” Nerris replied, her voice an almost exaggerated exasperated one, “instead of praying the winds away, he picks away the beautiful young women and locks them in that terrible chapel!”

“When will this madness end?”

“I don't know, milkmaid,” the girl said with a shake of her lowered head, “I just don't know.”

Meanwhile, Harrison was pacing back and forth, some ways away from the girls. He began his part with a, “oh dear, what am I going to do?”

There was a pause. Neil seemingly realized it was his turn when his eyes went wide and he stepped forward with a nervous expression.

“M...My priest,” he sputtered, “is there a problem?”

Harrison turned to look at him, quickly molding his expression into a mock-serious one, “the winds have quieted for the moment, my son. But soon they will return, seeking a new bride. However… all the young women are gone. The village is surely almost empty, you and I both know this.”

“All of them are gone?” Neil paused, scanning through his script, “how will our village survive?”

“I don't know, dear Julian. I just don't know.”

“Oh father,” Max walked up to the duo, absolutely no enthusiasm in his voice at all, “father, I have terrible news.”

“What is it, Romilda, my lovely son?” Harrison's voice was much more enthusiastic in comparison, despite being rather uncertain, as if testing how far he could push the script’s boundaries.

“Mother has passed away,” Max rolled his eyes, “I tried to wake her but she will not wake.”

Harrison paused, and then got down on both knees, throwing his hands up with the script still clutched carefully in one hand, shouting an elongated, “nooooo!”

“Alright! End of scene one!” Preston snapped the clapper, “excellent job, but I really need you all to SELL IT to me! Give me more passion- especially you Max!”

“Fuck off,” he flipped the bird to the theatre boy.

“Okay, let's go again people! Scene one, take two- action!”

They didn't get it down until Max finally showed some emotion in his voice. It sounded annoyed and was definitely fake, but Max knew that they wouldn't move on until they got the emotion of the scene down. Hours passed as they rehearsed the scenes, Max beyond relieved when they made it close to the end. He was bored and tired and he wanted to go home.

“Scene six, take one- action!”

“Romilda, oh Romilda- wherefore art thou, Romilda?” Neil seemed really into the whole thing now, for some reason. Maybe he also wanted to get this over with, “deny thy father and refuse thy fate!”

Max cleared his throat, pushing back the secondhand embarrassment he was getting from reading the script. He knew he had the option to stop, and simply leave, but something caused him to press on, “I am here, Julien. However, you must depart immediately, or you too will be killed by the God of winds.”

“That is a risk I am willing to take for you, my dear Romilda,” Neil paused, then shakily reached out to grab Max’s hand. He looked away at his script, “my Romilda, I shan't spend the rest of my sorrowful life without you. Without your gentle emerald eyes to light up the dark night sky, or your dark hair to shine in the bright sunlight, my life is not a life worth living.”

“Julien, without your wonderful honey brown hair and your gentle blue eyes, I would not be complete.”

Okay, that sounded eerily familiar. Both descriptions of the characters did. It was on the very tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it right back down when he saw the next line.

(Romilda and Julien embrace, then kiss.)

Neil seemed just as startled as he did. Max gazed towards the others, who of which were giving thumbs up and grins. That's when it all hit him- this was a setup; a plan to get him and Neil together. He wasn't sure what he was feeling in that moment. His heart was racing and he felt a mix of anger and thankfulness towards the others and he just- really wanted this. But he didn't, at the same time.

Neil embraced him suddenly. It was awkward and tight, fingers weaved together as his hands rested on Max’s back. Their eyes both met, and the distance between them began to close off.

When Max heard Nikki squeal, he ripped back and looked around, then ran off, ignoring the calls of the others behind him. He rushed into the trees and stopped when he reached a small stream, listening to the flowing of its water as well as his heavy breathing. He sat down, pulling his legs to his chest and hugging them close, letting his head drop and hang low.

Eventually he raised it very slightly and looked off to the side, where he could see a pile of rocks. Max grumbled and picked one up, tossing it into the stream. When he heard the plink, signifying it had landed in the water, he threw another, rinse and repeat until they were all gone.

When he heard the crunching of dirt and twigs and leaves behind him, he sighed, “what the hell do you want?”

“I,” Neil paused, “I wanted to see if you were okay. Can I sit down?”

“Knock yourself out,” Max said simply as he grabbed a twig and snapped it in half, setting it on his other side.

Neil joined him on the ground, crossing his legs and awkwardly tracing the fabric on his jeans, gaze pointed downwards.

“So, um,” he started to speak, “are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Max mumbled, “don't worry about it.”

“I don't think you're telling the truth.”

“Look,” Max’s head shot up and he met gazes with Neil, who was awkwardly observing him, “you don't have to take pity on me for what happened earlier.”

“I’m not taking pity on you,” Neil replied after a moment, his voice soft, “I wanna apologize for forcing you into all of this-”

Max held a hand up, “it's not your fault. I'm pretty sure it was Nikki’s idea.”

The other boy hummed, then spoke after a pause, “I guess my secret got out.”

“It wasn't much of a secret, honestly. Pretty much everyone knew about it.”

Neil was quiet for another moment, then he mumbled out, “shit.”

When no response came from his mouth, the taller boy spoke up again, “it's just… when I came to camp first, I thought I was straight. But then I met you and- and you made me question that.”

Max looked back over at him again.

“I thought that when camp ended, I'd never see you again so I'd stop struggling with my feelings for you, but they didn't go away! And then you moved in next door to me and I fell deeper into the hole! I wanted to admit how I felt to you at the dance but then everything with Bobby happened and… I just chickened out after that. Because there's not much of a chance that you even like me as a friend, let alone the same way!”

The confession left his companion nervous, head snapping back to meet the flowing water. Max continued to stare him down as he processed everything just said. So Neil really did like him. The question of whether or not the rumors were true were finally answered.

In that moment, not a doubt in his mind remained; Max knew he wanted to be with Neil.

“I tried admitting how I felt too,” it was his turn to admit, whether he liked it or not, “that day of the dance, I spent all morning trying to think of what I wanted to say, but nothing was good enough. Nothing I could think of expressed how I felt about you.”

He felt Neil’s eyes on him and he tried to look away, but ended up meeting his gaze.

“And I couldn't even decide if I wanted to be something with you, ‘cause the whole time I was terrified that everyone was fucking with my head and I was just overanalyzing everything that happened.”

“You weren't overanalyzing anything,” Neil said after a second, “I kinda… did all that stuff because I thought it'd get across how I felt, what I was thinking about.”

A silence fell over them, only accompanied by the taller boy breathing audibly through his nose and the running water. They stared out at the trees and the stream, and the sky that was becoming a softer blue, and the clouds that were becoming more defined by the orange creeping up around, dotting around in the sky, like an experimental canvas.

“So, what do we do now?” Max asked, “what exactly are we?”

“I don't really know,” Neil confessed, “what do you want to be?”

Max thought about the question for a long moment. He thought back to his checklist from a few weeks ago, then to the things they shared with each other minutes previous to the current moment.

“Maybe we should just take it slow,” he finally suggested, “and see where it leads us.”

“I’d like that,” Neil replied, smiling a warm smile Max hadn't seen him give before. He felt himself smile back faintly, looking up as Neil picked himself up off the ground and dusted the dirt and such off himself, “it's getting late… You wanna start getting home now?”

“Sure,” the other held out a hand and he took it, allowing himself to be let up as well.

They didn't let go of each other’s hands after that, walking off back to the park.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope everyone had a good weekend! i'm proud to announce that we're still chugging through the story. there are a lot more chapters in store, so stay tuned!
> 
> follow me on tumblr! https://chevremere.tumblr.com/

**Author's Note:**

> aha hi there!! :> i havent written in like over a month so im really hhhhhhhh
> 
> i love dadvid and i love jaspvid and maxneil ok leave me be,


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